Thousands of protesters turned out for a mostly peaceful demonstration Saturday in Portland to speak out against increased immigration enforcement. But, by the end of the day, scores of nonviolent protesters were hit with chemical munitions fired by federal officers responding to some demonstrators directly outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
The union-organized protest began several blocks from the Portland ICE building and included a march through the city’s South Waterfront neighborhood. During the march, sometime after 4 p.m., some protesters crowded the immigration building’s driveway, blocking a security gate that leads into the facility.
Federal officers stationed at the ICE building deployed tear gas that drifted through the air, traveling several blocks and into the larger crowd of demonstrators made up of families, including children and elderly people. Many held signs that read “Immigrants are not Criminals Our President Is!!” and “ICE Out of Our Communities,” but were forced to scatter after they were hit by the thick chemical mist.
“It still kind of hurts, and I’ve been tear gassed before,” said Parrish Webber, who attended the rally. “It has long effects. I’ll be sneezing a couple of days.”
Later, some protesters directly outside the ICE building also appeared to throw objects towards the roof where federal officers fired crowd control munitions, including flash-bang grenades and pepper balls.
Portland police posted online that they had to close South Macadam Ave. for a period of time to “keep drivers from being affected” by the gas.
After the confrontation at the ICE facility Saturday night, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson condemned federal officers’ actions, saying “federal forces deployed heavy waves of chemical munitions, impacting a peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces.”
The weekend demonstrations followed a nationwide general strike, which called on all Americans to refrain from going to work or shopping, while encouraging businesses to close their doors for the day.
In Eugene, police declared a riot Friday night at the Federal Building after they said “some protesters breached the building and went inside.” The riot followed hours of protest in Eugene, where demonstrators lined the streets around the building to rally against ICE as part of the nationwide strike.
Saturday’s demonstration at the ICE facility in Portland came after an earlier rally, dubbed “Labor Against ICE,” where members from at least 30 unions joined. Leaders for the various unions told a crowd of thousands that filled the park that increased enforcement by ICE is a labor issue that affects workers across Oregon.
Nathaniel Hancock works at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Beaverton and is a member of SEIU Local 49. After seeing what’s happening in Minneapolis, Hancock said he wanted to come out to show his support.
“There are a ton more people than I was expecting,” he said “I don’t know if today is going to change anything necessarily, but I really just hope that it builds some community and it builds some connections between people and builds solidarity between the working class.”
Organizers for the rally told OPB Friday that it’s a level of union engagement not seen for many years in Portland.
“Something like this — where it isn’t because a union is out on strike, but rather workers speaking up — is not quite that common,” said Tyler Fellini, executive director of Portland Jobs with Justice.
A recent general strike by labor unions in Minnesota in response to a large influx of federal agents there has captured the nation’s attention, Fellini said.
Federal immigration officers shot and killed Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, igniting a new wave of protests in Minnesota and across the country. Pretti was also a union member, prompting the president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO to call on ICE to leave the state.
“It has really kind of put a bit of urgency for labor to start showing up,” Fellini said. “I know that a lot of us want to.”
Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU Local 503, told OPB on Friday that many of their members have started carrying their passports on the job. No matter their citizenship status, many are fearful about potentially interacting with immigration agents, she said.
“I’ve heard from workers who have said, ‘The only time I ever leave my house is for my job,’” Unger said. “The fear is across the board, because it doesn’t feel like there’s rhyme or reason to how ICE is choosing to approach people or detain people.”
In his statement Saturday night, Portland Mayor Wilson called for accountability.
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children,” the mayor wrote.
OPB’s Troy Brynelson and Eli Imadali contributed to this report.
