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Immigration enforcement actions in the greater Portland area are sowing fear among Latino business owners and patrons of businesses that cater to Latino customers. That is true even when the business owners and their customers are citizens or legal residents who should not be subjected to immigration detention; they fear it will happen to them anyway. The protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement compound south of downtown Portland fell to new lows on Monday, amid rain, cold and pending court decisions. Here’s what we know. Immigration raids and detentions are raising fears, harming businesses Over the past few weeks, as federal officers have ramped up immigration enforcement and agents have seized people from cars, streets, apartment buildings and parking lots across the Portland metro area, businesses that cater to Latino clients have been hammered by a loss of business. Some reports of ICE raids have been verified, while others aren’t accurate. Nevertheless, they fuel the anxiety that’s kept many people of color, whether citizens or not, at home. Hispanic business owners and managers say they’re afraid for employees and themselves. Like their customers, they say they’re aware of ICE agents, without judicial warrants, arresting U.S. citizens, green-card holders, people with work permits or another form of legal status and targeting those who have brown skin or speak Spanish. Read more about the negative impacts on businesses Protests outside the ICE compound reached new low Action outside the Portland ICE facility fell to new lows Monday, as the weather turned wet and cold and judicial decisions put decisive turning points on hold until the end of the week. Streamer Tommy Allen, who goes by the name Tommyboi, was notably absent Monday. He explained online that he met with a lawyer Monday evening and that he would appear in court on an arraignment Tuesday morning. Religious leaders, who showed up intending to bless people in inflatable animal costumes for their track record of protesting nonviolently and bringing joy and whimsy to the scene outside the federal immigration compound, found no inflatables present on the cold, rainy evening. They later came upon two costumed protesters to bless, including the man dressed in a chicken suit who has been one of the most regular protesters outside the ICE building since the activism there started in June. “I am here to receive your blessing,” said Jack Dickinson, the Portland man who shows up nearly every night in a chicken suit with a U.S. flag on his back. What we’re watching for today U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut has been fully immersed in parsing legal arguments about a potential National Guard deployment to Portland for more than 30 days, since the case pitting the city and the state of Oregon versus the Trump administration was assigned to her on Oct. 2. Sunday evening, she once again put a temporary hold on federal deployment of troops to Portland. But she has indicated she will rule by Friday not on a temporary hold but on the essence of the dispute: Does President Donald Trump have a justifiable legal basis to send troops to Portland to protect the city’s ICE compound? Or does the state’s sovereign right to control matters not explicitly left to federal control rule the day? Read more about the latest court decisions
