A Texas company that touts itself as having “the longest standing detention center contract with ICE” is looking to hire detention officers in Newport — the latest sign that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be planning a new outpost on the Oregon Coast.
According to a job listing on its website, Corpus Christi-based Asset Protection and Security is in the market for people with experience working in detention facilities. Under “duties,” the ad says successful applicants will “provide care, custody, and control of those in ICE custody” for around $50 an hour. The company has also posted notice of open transportation officer positions.
The listings appear to be the clearest evidence yet that immigration authorities are looking to set up shop at Newport’s tiny municipal airport. Asset Protection and Security did not immediately respond to an inquiry on Wednesday, but the company is not the only one advertising positions in Newport.
Asked about the detention officer ad, state Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, pointed to additional listings by a contractor called Acuity International that is looking to hire an infection prevention officer, nurse manager, health services administrator and other positions in Newport.
Those ads list “DHS or ICE detention center experience” under preferred qualifications. The address provided is for the Newport airport.
“The picture is becoming increasingly clear,” Gomberg said Wednesday. “The federal government is not telling us what’s going on but the evidence is mounting that a detention center is what’s intended for this location.”
Oregon is one of a handful of states that doesn’t have an ICE detention center. While a Portland processing facility run by the agency has been the subject of months of protest, ICE typically sends people to a center in Tacoma, Washington, for detention.
Other evidence of a possible major undertaking at the site: The U.S. Coast Guard recently relocated a rescue helicopter it has long stationed at the Newport airport, potentially creating room for other activities; a federal defense contractor that specializes in troop housing has asked about leasing more than four acres adjacent to the Coast Guard site; and Acuity International recently began asking around about services to haul between 5,000 and 10,000 gallons of wastewater from the airport each day.
According to reporting by the Lincoln Chronicle, that amount of wastewater is consistent with between 500 and 1,000 people using a septic system.
Local, state and federal officials have been working since late last week to determine exactly what the federal government might be planning in Newport, but say they’ve largely been stonewalled. Responding to an inquiry from OPB, an ICE spokesperson did not directly comment on the agency’s interest in the Oregon Coast — but did not deny a new outpost is coming.
“Under President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership, [the Dept. of Homeland Security] is working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport the worst of the worst including gang members, pedophiles, terrorists, rapists, and murderers,” that statement said. “Secretary Noem is working with state and local governments to secure greater and more cost-effective detention space, like Alligator Alcatraz, Speedway Slammer, Louisiana Lockup and Cornhusker Clink.”
On Wednesday, four members of Oregon’s congressional delegation wrote to Noem to demand a briefing on the matter.
“Reassigning Coast Guard assets or establishing ICE facilities in Newport would be deeply misguided and should not move forward without full transparency and consultation with local officials,” read the letter from Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Reps. Val Hoyle and Suzanne Bonamici, all Democrats.
“It appears that ICE is looking to install a detention facility or outpost in Newport as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to ramp up immigration enforcement,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter requested a response by Friday to questions about whether the Department of Homeland Security had moved Coast Guard assets from Newport, whether it is planning a detention facility there, and why the agency didn’t consult local officials about any changes.
News of a possible detention facility comes as immigration enforcement in Oregon appears to have ramped up in recent weeks, with ICE arrests and activity reported in the Portland metro area, mid-Willamette Valley and on the coast.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
