FILE: A protester in an inflatable axolotl costume wrapped in a Mexican flag navigates a cloud of tear gas outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, where federal officers deployed tear gas, flash-bangs, and fired pepper balls in Portland, Ore., Oct. 18, 2025.
Eli Imadali / OPB
A pair of Portland city councilors want Mayor Keith Wilson to speed up an effort to fine the landlord of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building for his tenants’ use of chemical munitions on protesters.
“Portlanders are demanding that we take action to protect our communities from our authoritarian Federal government,” Councilors Angelita Morillo and Mitch Green wrote in a letter sent to Wilson on Tuesday. “We must act urgently with every tool we have.”
The ICE facility in South Portland has been a focal point for protests since immigration enforcement ramped up last spring. Protesters have also focused their attention on City Hall, where they’ve pressed city leaders to restrict ICE’s operations in Portland.
Both Morillo and Green responded to those demands last fall when they introduced a new fee for private property owners whose building is leased to be used as a detention facility. That policy also included civil penalties for “the release or deposition of chemical residues or other substances beyond the detention facility premises” into the street or neighboring properties.
The policy was adopted by the council on Dec. 3 and went into effect on Jan. 2. But enforcement has not started yet, as the city’s administrative branch is still working on writing the rules for enforcement. Wilson oversees this branch of city government.
Councilors say that recent actions by federal officers in Portland demand a swifter response. In their letter, they point to reports of chemical munitions being used by federal law enforcement against protesters outside the ICE building last weekend.
“We recognize that it takes time to establish administrative rules,” the councilors wrote. “However, we believe there are concrete, immediate steps that you can take today to show Portlanders that we will not tolerate the tear-gassing of our neighborhoods in violation of our local laws.”
The city has banned Portland police officers from using tear gas on protesters since 2020, but federal officers have no such restrictions.
The letter urges that the city track all chemical munition use at the facility to support any future legal actions against the building owner. It also asks Wilson to expedite another investigatory process already underway regarding the ICE property: the land use violation.
ICE has leased the S Macadam Ave. building from a private landlord since 2011, under a land use agreement with the city.
That agreement prohibits the federal tenants from holding detainees longer than 12 hours or overnight.
In September, the city claimed that ICE broke this rule at least 25 times in the past year and issued a land use violation against the property owner, Stuart Lindquist.
If the city finds Lindquist has violated the land use agreement, he’ll face a monthly fine of nearly $950. If ICE doesn’t change its detention practices, the permitting department can hold a public hearing to discuss revoking that agreement. It’s not clear what exactly that would mean for the future of the ICE facility.
Lindquist’s lawyers have challenged the violation, claiming that ICE’s own data doesn’t support the allegation. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The city permitting office is currently reviewing Lindquist’s claim. There’s no required timeline for when city permitting officials need to make their decision on the challenge.
In the meantime, protests calling for sanctions on the ICE facility have mounted, both at the building and at City Hall. Last Wednesday, activists forced city councilors into a virtual session after anti-ICE chants drowned out the council meeting. Protesters have specifically called on city leaders to “revoke” the land use agreement.
City councilors have publicly expressed frustration with this demand, as they currently have no authority over the decision. The permitting department is also overseen by the city’s administrative branch and the mayor’s office.
Wilson did not immediately respond to OPB’s request to comment on the letter.
Wilson has asked activists to be patient. In a statement released last week, Wilson said that any move to unilaterally revoke the land use agreement would surely land the city in court.
“We cannot allow hasty action to prevent us from taking meaningful action,” he said.
Wilson previously called on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until an investigation into a Jan. 8 shooting by U.S. Border Patrol in East Portland was completed.
Morillo and Green sent their letter shortly after another anti-ICE protest was set to kick off outside of Portland City Hall on Tuesday.
