As protests ramp up at Portland’s ICE facility, local police will continue to monitor demonstrations there—but doing so could prove costly.

Data shows a significant chunk of Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) overtime costs over the past year have come from responding to protests. 

Earlier this year during budget discussions, the Portland City Council directed PPB to limit the use of staff overtime hours spent monitoring and policing protests. Instead, councilors said the Bureau should focus on critical missions like drug interdiction, and stopping sex trafficking and domestic violence. The budget directive came as the Bureau continues to rack up overtime hours amid a staffing shortage. 

Records obtained by the Mercury show PPB spent $875,511 on staffing related to protests at the ICE facility over the course of just two weeks in June. The Police Bureau logged more than 29,000 overtime hours in June–the highest number since November, when PPB logged more than 32,600 hours in overtime after bolstering its daily staffing in anticipation of election-related protests. The June staffing costs include regular and overtime hours worked by PPB personnel.

The Bureau says it deployed local officers to the ICE facility regularly in June, “due to the size of the demonstrations and to ensure public safety and maintain order in a neighborhood that includes residences, businesses, and medical offices that accommodate ambulance traffic.”

PPB has not dispatched officers to the ICE facility in recent months, likely because the budget directive regarding overtime hours took effect in July, and protests have mostly stayed small. The Bureau’s overtime declined dramatically in July and August, hovering between 18,000 and 19,000 hours each month.

But things changed last weekend. After an announcement that the Trump administration ordered National Guard troops to help secure the local ICE facility, Portlanders turned out in large numbers to show their disapproval. Peaceful protests like rallies and marches in other parts of the city have drawn the largest crowds, though the ICE facility has seen an uptick in the number of protesters there since Saturday.

Portland Police Chief Bob Day told reporters Monday that his officers will continue to keep tabs on demonstrations related to ICE and the National Guard deployment. 

“We will have additional resources designated this evening and be evaluating on a nightly basis as to what level of presence that includes,” Chief Day said, noting his Bureau’s goal is to “ensure that all of South Waterfront remains a safe, viable place for people to be able to live, play, and thrive.”

When asked about the overtime directive, Day said he consulted with the mayor about how best to direct staffing in light of recent events.

“I had that conversation with the mayor this morning,” Day said. “We recognized that that was a Council request, but my responsibility is for the overall protection of all Portlanders, and we’re going to prioritize the Police Bureau resources and budget in the way that we see is most beneficial.”

He said his priority right now is for PPB to "be engaged and responsive."

Day added, "the risk is high, as the whole world is watching to see how Portland is going to show up, right?"

Portland City Councilor Sameer Kanal, who co-chairs the Council’s Community and Public Safety Committee, said the directive about overtime spending remains in place, but the city’s executive branch, which includes the mayor and city administrator, still has a say in how resources are directed. 

“Day to day, there are decisions that the executive team is empowered to make,” Kanal told the Mercury, but said he’s "confident the executive branch will continue to follow that budget directive.”

ICE response to protesters leads to injuries, site contamination 

PPB is prohibited from aiding in immigration enforcement, but the Bureau says it dispatches officers to the ICE facility when needed, to maintain public safety.

“We wanted to prevent any disruption that could delay medical response times or impact the well-being of residents and workers,” PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner told the Mercury in August, referring to a nearby hospital and other medical clinics, as well as apartment buildings. “While we fully respect the right to protest, it is equally important to balance those rights with the safety and accessibility needs of the entire community.”

While PPB cites a need to maintain order around the South Waterfront neighborhood, the biggest threats are likely beyond the Bureau’s control. Local police can’t control the actions of ICE agents, who have routinely deployed chemicals and less-lethal weapons against protesters, causing injuries and leaving tear gas to waft into nearby apartments and a neighboring school campus. 

The Cottonwood School of Civics and Science, a K-8 charter school next door to the ICE building, announced over the summer that it would cancel its summer camp and move to a temporary location for the 2025-26 school year. The school, which has operated in that location for 15 years, also had to postpone scheduled playground improvements and other work on the campus.

“Since we can't predict if there will be an end to the use of chemicals, we are stuck with needing to explore temporary locations in the fall for the health and safety of our staff, students and families,” Laura Cartwright, the school’s executive director, told the Mercury at the time.

Even with local police on patrol, that hasn't stopped clashes between ICE and Portland protesters that have been violent at times. On June 14, during an afternoon demonstration at the ICE facility following a ‘No Kings’ rally, an ER nurse was shot in the eye with a projectile by a federal agent, leaving him bloody and nearly blinded. 

Later in June, protesters filmed federal police dragging an unconscious protester into their facility, after they allegedly used heavy force on the person. Other video footage captured by protesters shows ICE agents appear to have shoved a woman to the ground during an arrest on July 28, after she and another woman danced near the edge of the driveway at the ICE processing facility. 

More recently, a local news crew filmed a veteran being shoved to the ground by DHS agents who rushed him from behind. 

Police chief says ICE protests are small and easily contained

When protests first started to pick up at Portland's ICE center in June in response to heightened immigration enforcement, PPB arrested at least 13 people on charges ranging from disorderly conduct, reckless burning, and trespass, to harassment, and interfering with a peace officer. The majority of PPB’s patrols there have resulted in no arrests. 

Officers found themselves back at the facility last weekend. On Sunday, September 28, PPB bike squad officers arrested a minor on fourth-degree assault charges. The 17-year-old was photographed and fingerprinted on site before being released to a guardian. Another person was arrested by the Rapid Response Team about 30 minutes later. 

Despite the ramped up PPB presence at the ICE facility, Chief Day acknowledged the city doesn’t need the National Guard’s help, and the protests have been confined to “one city block.”

The chief said the recent events happening at the facility “do not rise to the level of attention that they are receiving."

PPB’s overtime spending and staffing were major factors when city leaders were crafting the 2025-26 budget. A decision to redirect $2 million earmarked for staff recruitment from PPB to the city’s struggling parks department proved controversial and divisive. The $2 million allocation wasn’t requested by PPB, but was included in the mayor’s recommended budget as a way to help the Bureau hire more staff and reduce its overtime spending.

The final adopted police budget was nearly $22 million more than last year’s budget.

Kanal says he’s firm in his support of everyone’s right to protest, and says most demonstrations probably don’t warrant police involvement.

“I can't imagine that there's a need for PPB presence at many of the events that were happening,” Kanal said, reflecting on events from the past weekend.

“At a time when we have a lawless president who is ignoring the clear parameters of his authority established by Congress and the courts, it’s really important for us to model democracy,” Kanal added.