This story was originally published on LincolnChronicle.com and is used with permission.
Immigration enforcement agents took a man into custody outside a Newport motel Wednesday morning in a highly public arrest that sent fear through many workers who staff local lodging and restaurant jobs.
It is unclear how many arrests by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers have made in Lincoln County since the Trump Administration’s enforcement crackdown. But Wednesday’s detention was certainly the most public, as several unmarked ICE vehicles and masked agents took a man from his vehicle about 8 a.m. in front of the Allred Hotel on Elizabeth Street.
Since Trump took office immigration arrests in Oregon have tripled, according to data collected by Berkley Law’s Deportation Data Project. However, the number of arrests is relatively low when compared to other states – partly because of Oregon’s status as a sanctuary state. Under Oregon law, local law enforcement agencies are prohibited from using public resources to support or assist federal immigration enforcement.
Oregon does not have its own overnight detention center and to hold someone they have to be taken to a detention center in Tacoma, Wash., creating a hurdle for immigration arrests in the state. A rapid response network has also been established to help detainees and their families, including a hotline run by Portland Immigration Rights Coalition that helps verify ICE sightings and get people connected with lawyers.
Still, Oregon residents are getting detained, including a father outside his child’s school in Beaverton, Woodburn farmworkers headed to blueberry fields and an asylum seeker from Newport who won his court battle for unlawful detention.
In Newport Wednesday morning, several agents in unmarked immigration enforcement vehicles took a man from his car and told a woman accompanying him she had a week to leave the country, witnesses told the Lincoln Chronicle.
Four vehicles surrounded the car and six agents – four who wore masks covering their faces — were in the street across by the Allred Hotel.
A Nye Beach business owner was on her way to work when she stopped to take videos of the encounter. While she was filming, she shouted to the woman, reminding her of her rights. The business owner later spoke to the woman and learned ICE agents told her she had a week to leave the country and that the woman had obtained a lawyer.
“I lived here my whole life and never saw anything like it,” the business owner told the Chronicle. “I wished more people stopped and got out of their car when they saw it happening.”
Two guests of the Allred Hotel saw agents detain the man from their third story room and watched the scene unfold from the balcony in their bathrobes. They counted the number of unmarked vehicles and agents they saw in the street below and relayed it to a member of Oregon’s rapid response network who came to collect details later that morning.
The Elizabeth Hotel managers declined to comment. Employees at the Allred Hotel said they didn’t witness the incident firsthand but had heard about the immigration enforcement vehicles that morning and had seen videos posted on community Facebook groups.
Word quickly spread through the community, and workers were fearful of being profiled, a Newport Bayfront employee told the Chronicle. Some restaurant managers shared resources so that employees were aware of their rights and had access to the immigration response hotline.
Several employees of Bayfront restaurants said they were understaffed Wednesday because employees were afraid to come to work and some businesses closed due to the lack of staff.
“My co-workers are in danger and scared,” a Bayfront restaurant employee told the Chronicle.
Later Wednesday afternoon, a man along U.S. Highway 101 held a painted surfboard in protest with the words “ICE is here attacking our community.”
There have been other detentions in Newport before Wednesday, but the rapid response hotline did not have specific data to share, a hotline worker told the Chronicle. The rapid response network could only confirm one detention Wednesday in Newport.
The Newport Police Department issued a short press release Wednesday afternoon saying it had no prior knowledge of the ICE operation and did not assist in any way.
ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
