Hundreds of People in Bend, Oregon Block ICE Gestapo for Hours to Try to Stop Deportation
| revcom.us
On the morning of Wednesday, August 13, two immigrant men were snatched off the streets of Bend, Oregon, a small city southeast of Portland, by ICE agents. They were longtime residents of the area. But when ICE tried to take away the arrested men in two unmarked buses, people took action. One activist with the Central Oregon Peacekeepers stood in front of the buses in a parking lot and livestreamed what was happening—and soon, dozens and eventually hundreds of people converged to try to halt the abduction. And they did, for almost 12 hours.
Among the protesters was Bend City Council member Barb Campbell, who parked her car and set up a lawn chair in front of one of the buses. She told reporters, “I am here because people are being picked off the streets and detained for the crime of wanting to work hard.” People held up homemade signs like “Stop separating families” and “It ain’t right” and shouted “Let them go!” and “Feds go home!” A local district attorney tweeted later in the day, “I’ve never been so disgusted with my government, and so proud of my community.”
Among those gathered around the ICE buses were family members of the arrested, including children. Janet Llerandi-Gonzalez of the Latinx rights group Mecca Bend read a statement from family members, saying, “Consider the emotional trauma being inflicted not only on us as adults, but also on our children who witness this injustice. We are hard-working members of the community that have lost our jobs due to Covid, and our husbands are put at risk daily. We are simply trying to provide for our families, but because of the color of our skin and because of our country of origin that does not justify what has happened here today.”
Immigration lawyers demanded to speak to the arrested men. ICE agents denied the request and told them the men would be sent to Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, and then deported.
As night fell, federal Border Patrol agents in riot gear arrived in formation. They used pepper spray and violently pushed aside the protesters, including the children, and took the men away in unmarked vans. According to the Central Oregon paper The Bulletin, a district federal judge denied a nonprofit law firm’s motion for a temporary restraining order to keep the arrested men in Oregon. The judge denied the motion—and said,“It’s not been made clear that [ICE] did something wrong or even out of the ordinary.”
The action taken by the people of Bend was courageous and righteous. And it is an example for people everywhere to get into the streets—and stay in the streets—in these coming weeks against this fascist regime and their gestapo forces in order to DRIVE THEM OUT.
Spontaneous protest to stop ICE from detaining two longtime residents of Bend is in its 6th hour. pic.twitter.com/UeHvvxfGUd
— Emily Cureton (@emilycureton) August 13, 2020
As night fell, federal Border Patrol agents in riot gear arrived in formation. They used pepper spray and violently pushed aside the protesters, including the children, and took the men away in unmarked vans. (Photo: @EmilyCureton)
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