Portlanders march against federal crackdown, call for abolition of ICE facility

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Hundreds of people marched through the streets of downtown Portland Sunday afternoon, visually and vocally showing their opposition to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in the city.

The gathering, organized primarily by Portland

Contra Las Deportaciones (PDXCD), began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park. The marchers – accompanied by a band dressed in banana suits – held signs calling for the abolition of ICE and organizers want all charges to be dropped for anyone arrested for protesting against ICE.

As marchers with Sunday’s rally arrived at the ICE building on South Macadam Avenue, an emergency naked bike ride rolled through, also protesting the “militarization” of the Rose City.

Around 5 p.m., federal agents deployed pepper balls on the crowd as it appeared they took at least one person into custody. At that time there were about 100 protesters outside the facility, including a few dozen counter-protesters.

“We will not be silent and will not back down,” PDXCD said in a release. “Our government officials shamefully asked us to ‘not take the bait’ but we know if we do not stand up and protect our rights, things will only get worse. We will rally and march to the ICE Facility to stand up against the deployment of federal troops and to protect our immigrant community.”

PDXCD claimed that, after a similar rally held on Oct. 4, at least seven of their main organizers were arrested and are facing charges. These include Jairin Anzaldua-Ervin, who was charged with assaulting a federal officer after officials said he “forcefully” threw a water bottle which hit an officer in the chest.

Anzaldua-Ervin made his first appearance in federal court on Monday and was released pending further court proceedings.

Organizer Holly Brown was also arrested that Saturday, charged with trespassing on federal property.

Both events and the ongoing protests are in response to President Donald Trump’s plans to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Portland, where the president says “Antifa and the radical left anarchists” have been attacking federal officers outside of the ICE facility.

A federal judge has since blocked these efforts to deploy troops twice, with a judge ruling on Oct. 4 that the Trump administration could not deploy the Oregon National Guard in Portland.

The Trump administration filed an appeal, which is awaiting a ruling from a federal appeals court. But as of right now, troops from both Oregon and California are at guard bases in the area.

As of Sunday, Portland police officers are stationed at the ICE facility, periodically clearing the streets of protesters for cars to go by.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue to follow this story.