When Portland gave Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the green light to open a processing and holding facility in the South Waterfront in 2011, the city set conditions for the agency to operate in the space. Among other requirements, the conditional use permit prohibited ICE from holding detainees at its Portland facility overnight, or for more than 12 hours.
Now, Portland leaders say ICE has violated that tenet of its agreement with the city. An investigation by the city’s permitting bureau showed the agency held detainees beyond the maximum time allotted on 25 occasions between October 1, 2024 and July 27, 2025. According to Mayor Keith Wilson, the city will send ICE a land use violation notice this week, starting a longer process to determine the agency’s compliance with city code.
“U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement made clear detention limitation commitments to our community,” Wilson said in a press release. “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.”
The announcement comes after months of protests at the ICE facility, with many demonstrators calling on the city to revoke ICE’s conditional use permit. The demand has been controversial. Some local immigration attorneys and advocates have said closing the South Waterfront facility could make it more difficult to help those who have been detained by ICE. Without access to a local holding facility, advocates say, ICE agents may take detainees out of the state to the Northwest Detention Center or similar facilities. At that point, it’s much more difficult for attorneys to advocate for their prompt release.
Those calling for the permit to be revoked say ICE’s operations at its building on South Macadam Avenue conflict with Portland’s sanctuary city status. They also point to the impact of the facility on the surrounding neighborhood. Federal law enforcement agents have responded to anti-ICE protests by blanketing the area in tear gas, impacting not just the protesters but also those who live in nearby apartment buildings. Leaders at a K-8 charter school located next to the ICE building decided the situation was so dire, they opted to simply move out of the neighborhood weeks before school started.
Although Portland leaders are certain ICE has violated certain conditions in its 2011 agreement with the city, that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to revoke the building permit. After receiving the notice of violation, the building operator has 30 days to correct the issue. After 60 days, Portland’s permitting bureau can initiate a process to reconsider the land use approval. Their decision can be appealed to Portland City Council and potentially the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals. In the meantime, ICE can continue to operate.
The process will likely be made more complicated by the federal government’s involvement. The US Constitution’s Supremacy Clause essentially limits the ability of state and local lawmakers to make decisions that conflict with federal law. In a September 17 statement on social media, Councilor Angelita Morillo said she is working on ways to “creatively get around the Supremacy Clause issue,” including disincentivizing landlords from renting buildings to ICE.
“If you’re a landlord and you’re choosing to open a detention facility with a government contractor, then you are going to have to pay whatever it costs for the city to do that [tear gas] cleanup, that extra policing, etc,” Morillo said. “No one should be profiting from human suffering… I’m hoping that this policy will be one piece to chip away at that.”
Portland’s effort to investigate the ICE permit could also lead to more conflict with the Trump administration. US Border Czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have made several threats to crack down on anti-ICE protests in Portland, with Homan recently saying he plans to increase the agency’s local presence. President Trump also recently indicated an interest in sending National Guard troops to Portland to quell protests. While some believed Trump was referring to the ongoing anti-ICE demonstrations in the South Waterfront, reports suggest his recent assessment of Portland (“It’s like living in Hell”) was based on old Fox News footage depicting the much larger Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
Earlier this week, in two separate incidents, two men were taken into ICE custody from North Portland’s Portsmouth neighborhood. Both were reportedly pulled over and arrested while they were driving. The arrests have sparked community outrage and reinvigorated calls for local leaders to take action against ICE’s operations in Portland.
In a September 19 response from the Department of Homeland Security, spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Mayor Wilson of lying about ICE’s alleged land use permit violations and said detainees were treated well at the Portland facility.
“Another day, another sanctuary politician attempting to prevent the brave men and women of ICE from removing the worst of the worst, including rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and gang members from the U.S.,” McLaughlin wrote in a statement. “Secretary Noem has called on states and local government to assist with bed and detention space-but Portland has not answered that call for its nation.”
The Trump administration’s claims that ICE is “removing the worst of the worst” are not only racially charged, they’re false. Data shows the vast majority of people currently in ICE custody around the US have no criminal convictions. Among those recently arrested by ICE from the Portland area, several were asylum seekers without criminal histories. Many of those in ICE detainment, like the two fathers picked up in North Portland earlier this week, have been described as beloved family and community members. The Trump administration has also mischaracterized many people around the country as members of Central American gangs, sometimes using those accusations as pretext to send them to a mega-prison in El Salvador without due process.
McLaughlin also said Wilson’s “claim of conducting a ‘thorough and thoughtful investigation’ amounts to nothing more than a FOIA request, without any effort to verify facts with ICE.”
ICE’s land use permit violations were first revealed not by the city of Portland, but by reporters with Fox 12 Oregon, who analyzed the agency’s own data to determine they held detainees longer than city rules allow. As noted, ICE will have an opportunity to comply with the violation notice, and will be able to appeal any decision the Portland hearings officer makes.
