The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Portland, June 11, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers held detainees at the agency’s Portland facility in violation of the federal government’s land use agreement, according to the city of Portland.
“Records indicate that detainees were held beyond the facility’s 12-hour limit or kept overnight 25 times between October 1, 2024 and July 27, 2025,” the city said in a news release, noting the latest “violation” was on May 20.
A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The city said it would issue its formal notice to ICE Thursday. It’s the result of an investigation conducted by the city’s permitting bureau that began in late July after the city received formal complaints.
For months, some community members have pressed Portland leaders to close the facility by revoking the land use agreement that has allowed ICE to operate since 2011 at 4310 S. Macadam Ave.
The location is not a long-term detention facility, but rather a processing center where immigration officers conduct check-ins with asylum seekers and other noncitizens.
“U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement made clear detention limitation commitments to our community, and we believe they broke those policies more than two dozen times,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement. “I am proud of our team for conducting a thorough, thoughtful investigation, and referring the matter to the next steps in the land use violation process.”
Federal officers guard the entrance to the ICE facility in SW Portland on June 14, 2025. Earlier in the evening, DHS officers clashed with protesters, firing crowd control munitions into the crowd, which threw objects back at the building. After some attempts, protesters eventually broke through the front door to the facility.
Conrad Wilson / OPB
Some Portlanders have argued that ICE is violating the conditions of the agreement, and that demonstrations outside the building are causing a hazard to nearby residents, particularly the use of chemical munitions like pepper balls. In August, a charter school that was located near the ICE facility decided to move, citing concerns about safety for its students.
There are no long-term immigration detention facilities in Oregon. State law prohibits local jails from contracting with the federal government to hold people arrested on suspicion of violating immigration laws.
