Oregon ICE enforcement reaches ‘unprecedented levels’ after over 30 arrests in Woodburn

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Outrage is growing after what advocates have called an “unprecedented” wave of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity across Oregon.

KOIN 6 News is working to confirm that more than 200 people have been arrested in just the last few weeks — including more than 30 in Woodburn on Thursday, according to immigrant advocates.

“ICE law enforcement officers conducted targeted enforcement actions in the Woodburn area of Oregon on Oct. 30, resulting in the arrest of more than 30 illegal aliens including an illegal alien involved in a DUI hit and run, and many with final orders of removal and illegal re-entries a felony,” an ICE spokesperson said.

Leaders from Oregon for All, a coalition of more than 100 community and labor groups, say these arrests are not about public safety, but about fear.

According to the coalition, many of those detained were taken without warrants, and some have been denied access to attorneys — calling the raids a threat to due process and Oregon’s economy.

“In the last few weeks, ICE have arrested more than 200 Oregonians,” Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste President and Executive Director Reyna Lopez said. “These numbers should alarm us all.”

Since mid-October, advocates with PCUN say federal agents have been conducting raids in homes, workplaces, and even school drop-offs — many without warrants.

Labor leaders say the impact is already rippling through Oregon’s economy, where 1 in 8 workers is an immigrant, as fields, factories, and small businesses lose workers overnight.

PCUN calls the spike in enforcement unlawful, pointing to recent cases like that of Hillsboro grand­father Victor Cruz, who was detained despite being legally able to work in the U.S., and a Gresham family whose door was broken down in error.

“They don’t care if they’re busting down the door of someone who is actually not on their list of people to be detained, and they get the wrong person,” Lopez said. “They are also denying so many people access to counsel. Families have been torn apart. Businesses are ghost towns right now, these people are hunting Oregonians.”

Of the 31 reports of detentions made yesterday to the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition hotline from Woodburn, PCUN says the Innovation Law Lab and CLEAR Clinic have now filed five habeas petitions, resulting in two detainees being released.

Advocates are calling on the state and local leaders to push back as well as donations to the Oregon Worker Relief to Support Families Left without their primary breadwinners.

Organizers say they are preparing more habeas petitions, hoping to get additional detainees released but KOIN 6 was told the government shutdown is already slowing that process down.