PORTLAND, Ore. — Lawyers for the United State Department of Justice claim 200 Oregon National Guardsmen are needed to protect the federal agents at the ICE facility from attacks by protesters.
“Each federal law enforcement agency is populated by courageous men and women who accept some measure of personal risk in serving their country. But for officers within the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), that risk is extraordinarily severe at present. Cruel activists who disagree with Congress’s and the Executive’s policy judgments on immigration have resorted to vicious tactics to thwart and intimidate the public servants,” reads part of a 48-page legal filing the US DOJ submitted in response to Oregon’s request for a temporary restraining order on troops.
The filing goes on to claim that violence against ICE agents across the country including the recent shooting in Dallas, Texas could occur in Oregon. In that case a gunman, who appeared to be aiming at ICE agents, ended up killing two detainees instead.
A separate filing from Field Office Director Cammilla Wamsley noted threats of violence both online and spray-painted on the building, as well as a guillotine brought to the facility Sept. 1, “presumably to intimidate personnel.”
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed the request for a Temporary Restraining Order on Sept 29. A federal judge is scheduled to hear the case Friday.
Rayfield argues that deploying the National Guard would exacerbate the protests rather than quiet them and claims it will take away resources the state may need in case of an emergency. He also argues that the situation in Portland does not meet the legal bar for federalization of the National Guard.
“Defendants’ heavy-handed deployment threatens to escalate tensions and stoke new unrest. As a result, more of the Plaintiffs’ law enforcement resources will be spent responding to the predictable consequences of Defendants’ actions,” Rayfield’s filing reads in part.
In an affidavit in support of Rayfield’s case, the Portland Police Bureau notes that it has accumulated a little over 1,100 hours of overtime since the announcement of troop’s deployment last week. The extra hours cost slightly over $100,000.
In an email to KATU, PPB noted that during the entire month of June it used about half of those overtime hours to police the protest.
The USDOJ filing claims PPB has not responded to federal agents’ calls for help. Responding to a request for comment, PPB noted that it cannot weigh in on legal proceedings but pointed to multiple press releases about arrests outside ICE.
PPB arrests were made in June and were followed by over two months of no arrests. PPB has begun making arrests again since the troops’ deployment was announced.
DOJ lawyers also point to the city’s warning over code violations relating to boarded up windows at the ICE facility. They claim the boards are needed to protect the building and federal agents, and offer the city’s code violation warning as one more reason for needing troops to protect the building so boards can come down.
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A handful of local businesses in downtown Portland have sent written affidavits in support of Rayfield’s TRO request.
Sarah Shaoul, CEO of Bricks Need Mortar, a local small business lobby, says downtown has been peaceful and businesses want it to stay that way.
“It’s important to share from the perspective of the small business community that small businesses just want to do what they do really well. They want to delight their customers. They want to inspire Portlanders and people visiting Portland to see what wonderful things they have in their businesses. And there’s really no need for real troops to be in Portland,” she said during an interview with KATU.
She said businesses worry that troops will harm foot traffic downtown.
Friday’s hearing is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. On Thursday, DOJ lawyers filed a motion asking for Judge Michael H. Simon to recuse himself from the case.
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Simon is married to U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, who has been vocal about the city not needing troops.
Simon agreed to recuse himself so as to avoid the appearance of impartiality.
“Although the Court does not believe that recusal is required under either federal law or the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, because it is necessary that the focus of this lawsuit remain on the critically important constitutional and statutory issues presented by the parties, he undersigned U.S. District Judge hereby recuses himself,” the court’s response to the motion reads.
Judge Karin J. Immergut has been assigned to the case. As of Thursday evening, no scheduling changes had been flagged in the case.
