Oregon’s Democratic attorney general, along with district attorneys from the state’s three biggest counties, warned the Trump administration that they plan to investigate any federal officers who engage in “unlawful and reckless” conduct during President Donald Trump’s illegal-immigration crackdown.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and the top prosecutors from Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties — Nathan Vasquez, Kevin Barton, and John Wentworth — sent a letter this week to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem voicing alarm over recent federal immigration arrests and the way officers have handled protests outside an ICE facility in South Portland.
“Each time law enforcement acts unlawfully, in violation of our Constitution, or with unwarranted force, it undermines public trust and confidence in our government and weakens the very principles our nation stands for,” the prosecutors wrote.
“Keeping communities safe and holding those who commit violent crimes accountable can only happen when the public has trust in all our law enforcement institutions.
“The public does not often differentiate between abuses by one agency or another — they just view it as abuse by ‘law enforcement.’”
The ICE facility in South Portland has been the site of constant protests since June 7.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon on Monday said it has charged 40 defendants with federal crimes for offenses near ICE facilities since June 13, including assaulting federal officers, failure to comply, and depredation of government property.
The letter cited two recent incidents.
In October, an unmarked van containing federal agents stopped a group of teenagers at gunpoint at a Dutch Bros Coffee drive-thru in Hillsboro “creating a volatile situation as community members called 911.”
Last week, federal agents arrested a 17-year-old high school student and U.S. citizen in McMinnville after stopping his car and “breaking through his window during his lunch break from school.”
Newsmax reached out to DHS for comment. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Newsweek that Border Patrol agents in Yamhill County were boxed in by a Chevy Tahoe and a Ford F-150 on Nov. 21, prompting the agents to call ICE “for urgent help.”
She said ICE and Border Patrol officers arrested the Tahoe’s driver, 20-year-old U.S. citizen Isaias Eduardo Soto Elias, and later arrested the 17-year-old U.S. citizen driving the F-150, with both facing federal charges for impeding law enforcement.
The prosecutors’ demands include halting unlawful actions, improving training, coordinating with local agencies at the South Portland ICE facility, investigating excessive-force complaints, and cooperating fully with state investigations.
However, Oregon’s sanctuary-state law prohibits state and local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement, creating a contradiction in the prosecutors’ request for federal–local coordination.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, responding to a post on X about Rayfield’s letter, wrote: “LOL No.”
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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