Portland, OR – On Sunday, March 23, Portlanders rallied at Terry Schrunk Plaza to reject the Trump administration’s mass deportations and demand legalization for all undocumented immigrants in the United States. The assembled crowd was 100 strong and was made up of people of all ages.

Sky Reimer, a member of Students for a Democratic Society at Portland State University (SDS) spoke on the need for solidarity between the student, anti-war and immigrant rights movements, citing ICE’s detainment of Palestinian student activists Mahmoud Khalil and Leqaa Kordia. Reimer. They said, “These racist policies of our universities aren't just happening at Columbia, they are happening countrywide.” Reimer later said, “By getting into the streets to protest Trump's agenda, we prove that the people hold the power, that we hold the power.”

Cass Cano of Portland Contra las Deportaciones (PDXCD) brought up the paper-thin justifications used by ICE to detain and deport immigrants, including incredibly broad definitions of gang affiliation tattoos. Over 200 Venezuelan immigrants were recently detained by ICE and moved to an El Salvadorian prison with a history of human rights abuses. These immigrants were not given due process. “The cruelty is the point,” Cano explained.

Holly Brown of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) declared, “The so-called ‘war on immigration’ is nothing more than a war on the working class. It is a war designed to keep people in constant fear – fear of deportation, fear of detention, fear of separation from families. It is designed to create a permanent underclass of workers who can be exploited without the full rights and protections that should belong to every human being, no matter where they were born!”

After the speeches, the crowd took to the streets and marched through downtown Portland, chanting, “No ban, no wall, legalize them all!” and “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state!” Bystanders voiced their solidarity as the march went by, and some joined along.

This protest came one month after another pro-immigrant march organized by many of the same groups, in which organizers were harassed by the Portland Police Bureau and fined over $2000 for traffic violations. The groups involved are still in the process of fighting these politically motivated fines, and demand that the citations be dropped by Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Police Chief Bob Day.

#PortlandOR #ImmigrantRights #PDXCD

Portland, OR – On Monday, March 3, organizations involved in the February 23 anti-deportation protest held a press conference outside the Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) central precinct headquarters to speak out against police harassment of protest organizers, harassment that endangered people participating in the march.

Speaking at the press conference were organizers from Portland Contra las Deportaciones (PDXCD), Portland for Palestine (P4P), and Extinction Rebellion. News organizations attending the conference included The Oregonian, KOIN, KATU and KGW.

Beatriz Ibarra, a member of PDXCD, explained to the gathered press, “To ensure the safety of the demonstrators in the march, cars and a decommissioned fire truck driven by supporters led and followed the crowd.”

Ibarra went on to say, “Before the march started, we had come to an agreement with a police officer that the march was cleared to go by the First Amendment. Despite this understanding, the police officers intimidated organizers in a process of aggressive but cowardly bullying that culminated in physical harassment of the protesters, and citations were given to two vehicles.” The fines from the citations totaled over $2000.

Bella Smith, who was harassed by a police officer at the march stated, “As a marshal with a high visibility vest, my job is to protect protesters from things like motor vehicles as they move through the streets. While the protest was at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Madison, a police officer hit me with his motorcycle, then immediately started threatening me with a citation, not asking if I was okay. Hitting me with a motorcycle for protecting the protesters from motor vehicles proves exactly why my role was necessary. We cannot allow there to be a precedent that keeping people safe comes with the penalty of being harassed, cited and assaulted with a deadly weapon.”

Michele Darr of P4P, one of the drivers for the protest, stated, “I have provided vehicular crowd support countless times before, ensuring the safety of people exercising their First Amendment rights. I have never experienced any problems – until now.” Darr then detailed the underhanded way in which PPB handed out the citations, “The citations were not issued at the time when the violations allegedly occurred, but an hour later and several blocks away. This blatant attempt to fracture the infrastructure of support and thereby silence our calls for justice is not only illegal, it’s an unacceptable incursion on our first amendment rights.”

Closing out the press conference was Omar Gil of PDXCD, who announced the plans of the coalition going forward, “We plan to fight the fines in traffic court and also launch a civil lawsuit against the Portland Police Bureau for their attacks on our First Amendment rights and for directly interfering with the safety of our protest.”

Gil then reiterated the demands of the coalition, urging the mayor and police chief to end the harassment and drop the fines, stating, “Mayor Keith Wilson claims he stands with immigrants and has stated his intent to uphold Oregon’s status as a sanctuary state. And yet, under his watch, Portland Police are repressing pro-immigrant protests. We want more than just words, we want action. We demand Keith Wilson and Bob Day drop the fines and end the harassment of protesters.”

After a question and answer section at the end, P4P and PDXCD rallied outside the police precinct, with chants of “Bob Day, drop the fines! We will not pay a dime!” and “We will not be silent! PPB end the violence!”

#PortlandOR #OR #ImmigrantRights #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #PDXCD