In a press conference, Tom Homan went from discussing crime in Chicago to mentioning Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle — cities that “refuse to work with ICE.”
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland can soon expect a “ramp-up” of federal law enforcement activity, Trump border czar Tom Homan intimated during comments to members of the press in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
Homan began by discussing the “crime problem” in Chicago, and said that President Donald Trump was “thinking about” sending a large contingent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to operate out of a naval base there.
“Operations are ramped up across the country, but you’re gonna see a ramp-up of operations in Chicago, absolutely,” Homan said. “You’re gonna see a ramp-up of operations in New York. You’re gonna see a ramp-up of operations continue in LA and, you know, Portland, Seattle … I mean, all these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE.”
City of Portland officials revealed last week that Homan quietly paid a brief visit to Portland’s ICE facility, which he referenced Thursday after railing against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s resistance to the administration.
READ MORE: Trump border czar Tom Homan paid an unannounced visit to Portland ICE facility, city says
“We’re gonna be in LA today. We’re gonna be in LA tomorrow. We’re gonna be in every California city. We’ll be in San Diego,” Homan said. “I was in San Diego, in Seattle, Portland last week, meeting with the men and women at ICE to understand the hate being pushed against them, letting them know that the president has their six. I have their six.”
Washington, D.C. continues to see National Guard troops deployed in the city alongside a surge of federal law enforcement officers, all at the president’s insistence and for the vaguely defined purpose of deterring crime.
While the president has more authority over the nation’s capital, his previous use of the California National Guard during anti-ICE protests has other cities, particularly Chicago, concerned that they’ll be similarly treated.
For months, ICE in Oregon has been intermittently snatching up asylum seekers in Portland who showed up to their immigration court hearings, as well as targeting noncitizen workers and business owners alike in the Willamette Valley. At the ICE facility in Portland’s South Waterfront, that’s resulted in regular demonstrations, vandalism and clashes between federal officers and rioters.
Regardless, Gov. Tina Kotek told KGW on Monday that the state has received no indication from the Trump administration that Oregon is being targeted for military deployment — a use of power she called “unconscionable.”
The state of sanctuary
In 1987, Oregon became the first state in the nation to pass a “sanctuary” law, barring cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The present-day law prevents local law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status or cooperating with federal immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.
But the Trump administration has done everything in its power to punish sanctuary jurisdictions and force them to back down.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek defended the state’s sanctuary law after a threatening letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month, denying that the law “thwarts” federal immigration authorities.
“The state does not take on the additional expense of burden to perform federal immigration enforcement as it is the job of the federal government,” Kotek said in her reply letter.
READ MORE: Marion County sues Gov. Kotek, DHS and ICE, asking for clarity on immigration enforcement
Currently, the state’s law faces something like a legal challenge from within. Marion County last week sued Kotek, the Department of Homeland Security and the director of ICE for declaratory judgment, claiming that Oregon law contains “internal inconsistencies” about how to handle federal administrative subpoenas for information that would otherwise be made available through a public records request.
On Thursday, Marion County’s complaint received support from the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association. In a letter signed by 34 of the state’s 36 sheriffs — missing only the sheriffs of Multnomah and Washington counties — the OSSA said it agreed that there is a “good deal of uncertainty” in how the relevant state and federal laws apply.
“We recognize that a declaratory judgment action is intended to declare the rights of the parties,” the short letter states, “but OSSA respectfully encourages the parties to ask Judge McShane to issue a detailed opinion that provides the type of clarity that will help all local governments in Oregon ensure they are properly following federal, state, and local laws.”
McShane, chief judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, has yet to issue any order in the case.
