Oregonians took to the streets this weekend with multiple protests of Thursday’s Border Patrol shooting, holding a candlelight vigil and demonstrations stretching from Salem to Vancouver in addition to continued protests at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland.
The demonstrations come after two shootings involving federal immigration authorities. Border Patrol shot a man and woman, later identified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as Venezuelan nationals Luis David Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, Thursday during a traffic stop in Portland’s Hazelwood neighborhood. A day earlier, an ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, in Minneapolis.
Several organizations and advocacy groups hosted vigils and protests of federal immigration authorities’ actions, calling for them to leave Portland.
Protests stretch into the night, with more planned
A couple hundred demonstrators lined the streets outside of North Portland’s Legacy Emanuel hospital Saturday afternoon. The rally was organized in part by Portland Contra las Deportaciones (PDXCD), an immigrants rights group, which says the hospital is the go-to location where agents bring detainees injured during immigration arrests.
The group says they’re demanding the hospital end cooperation with ICE, according to a press release.
Legacy Health has previously denied that there’s been an uptick in ICE detainees at the hospital. Last month, the Oregon Nurses Association sent a letter to Legacy Emanuel raising concerns about the hospital’s approach to treat patients in custody. The union accused the hospital of letting ICE dictate patient care. Legacy has denied those claims.
“It’s not appropriate that ICE is interfering with people’s medical care,” said Dr. Morgan Goff, a pediatrician from Hillsboro who attended the rally at Legacy. “Regardless of whether they’re detained or not, this is a HIPAA violation and a violation of their patient rights.”
Brian Brandt of Portland attended the rally at the hospital and told OPB he was “mad as hell” about how federal immigration officers are treating people. He said he can’t trust that community members will get fair treatment from the government, even somewhere like Legacy Emanuel hospital.
“We used to have the rule of law,” Brandt said. “And now I don’t know if the law applies anymore. Ordinarily you’d think you could go into a hospital and be safe. Because of what ICE is doing, I don’t know if I’m safe anywhere.”
“We used to have the rule of law,” Brandt said. “And now I don’t know if the law applies anymore. Ordinarily you’d think you could go into a hospital and be safe. Because of what ICE is doing, I don’t know if I’m safe anywhere.”
Last month, the Oregon Nurses Association sent a letter to Legacy Emanuel raising concerns about the hospital’s approach to treat patients in custody. The union accused the hospital of letting ICE dictate patient care. Legacy has denied those claims.
“It’s not appropriate that ICE is interfering with people’s medical care,” said Dr. Morgan Goff, a pediatrician from Hillsboro who attended the rally at Legacy. “Regardless of whether they’re detained or not, this is a HIPAA violation and a violation of their patient rights.”
Other demonstrators gathered at an “ICE Out For Good” rally and march at Waterfront Park in downtown Portland. Protests also took place in Salem, Beaverton and Vancouver, Washington.
Several groups co-hosted a vigil Saturday at Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland, which the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition said was meant to allow people a space to mourn and express themselves amid the recent shootings.
Attendees gathered and sang songs on the plaza’s circle of red brick steps, lighting candles as the sun set.
Maran Sheils, who lives in Northeast Portland, said she came to the vigil to support vulnerable people in local communities.
“I’m feeling a combination of fear, sadness, fatigue and outrage that we’ve collectively chosen to live like this,” Sheils said. “I’d like to see local, state officials make it very, very clear that we’ll not tolerate state-sanctioned violence in any form.”
Emy Wirichaga of Beaverton said she moved to the U.S. from Mexico nearly a decade ago. She came to the vigil in Portland because she’s “been in a very dark place because of everything that’s been going on.”
“I don’t think I ever felt afraid to live here, in the U.S., at all, and it feels that way now,” Wirichaga said.
Protests continued late into Saturday night, with a now familiar scene on the sidewalks in front of the ICE facility near Portland’s south waterfront. Protesters donning inflatable costumes danced and waved signs condemning ICE, as disco lights flashed on them and techno music blared from a portable sound system. There were occasional conflicts between protesters and counter-protesters, with some requiring police intervention.
On Sunday demonstrators are expected to gather at Northeast 33rd Avenue and Killingsworth Street in Portland.
State and local officials at a press conference in Portland earlier this week urged people who plan to participate in protests over the coming days do so peacefully.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day echoed that message Friday encouraging protesters to be peaceful and nonviolent, saying he was “asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”
Details from shooting investigation slow to emerge
Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras were in stable condition Friday afternoon after being shot by Border Patrol.
Department of Homeland Security officials have said the pair are involved in the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. In a press conference Friday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said they appeared to have “an association” with the group.
But Oregon’s federal public defender pushed back on that narrative. In a statement to OPB, he called the accusations “a well-worn playbook that the government has developed to justify the dangerous and unprofessional conduct of its agents.”
As of Friday afternoon, no federal charges had been filed against Nino-Moncada or Zambrano-Contreras.
DHS has stated that the officer fired a defensive shot while “fearing for his life” after the driver of the vehicle attempted to run over federal agents. Day said he could not dispute or confirm that narrative Friday. He said the FBI is leading an investigation into the shooting.
The Oregon Department of Justice has opened its own investigation into the shooting in Portland. The office has set up a tip line, 971-673-3900, for community members to send in information about the incident.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
