State and local leaders — but only a few protesters — greeted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday as she visited Portland and the ICE office that has been the site of recurring protests since June.
As Noem made the case for increased security near the facility, where the Trump administration has sought to deploy National Guard troops to keep the peace, local officials repeated their arguments that the situation is well in hand and that federal intervention has only inflamed tensions.
Here’s what we know about the day’s events and what’s ahead.
Noem meets state, city leaders
The secretary’s visit began at Portland International Airport, where Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she continued to push back against a looming troop deployment and “reiterated again that there is no insurrection in Oregon.”
From there, Noem left in a convoy of unmarked cars toward the ICE office in South Portland, accompanied by a trio of conservative influencers as well as Noem’s chief of staff and general counsel.
In a televised interview with Fox News, Noem reported from the ICE building on her day in Portland. “One of the things I’ve been dealing with all day here in Portland is a bunch of pansies that are elected into political office who won’t make a decision to keep their citizens safe,” Noem said in the interview.
She said she was “extremely disappointed” by her meeting with Wilson.
“I told him was that if he did not follow through on some of these security measures for our officers, we are going to cover him up with more federal resources and that we were going to send four times the amount of federal officers here so that the people of Portland can have some safety, they could have some security.”
Wilson said the calm Noem witnessed Tuesday showed that “Portland continues to manage public safety professionally and responsibly, irrespective of the claims of out-of-state social media influencers.”
Tuesday protests cordoned off
Yellow tape remained in place around the ICE office throughout the day and evening of Noem’s visit as Portland police provided what a spokesperson called “routine support” on roads and in public spaces, as they would with any visiting official.
Midday, about 25 protesters were visible near the ICE facility, outnumbered by members of the media. While some in the crowd blasted loud music or waved signs, local resident Charlie Fischer set up a lawn chair and sat down with his laptop not far from the police line. “I work from home and thought this would be a good place for it,” he said.
Officers on bicycles deployed to the scene just before 4 p.m. and took one woman into custody. Leah Bothamley, 43, of South Dakota, was booked into jail on an allegation of harassment, police said.
Unmarked cars trickled in and out of the ICE facility throughout the day, and it wasn’t immediately clear when Noem departed.
At sunset, more than 100 people gathered outside the cordoned area. About an hour later, a convoy of SUVs departed from a garage about two blocks away from where protesters, some in costumes, danced to the song “Pepas” by Farruko. Cars came and went from the building throughout the evening.
Britanny Jones, who says she is a Democratic candidate for governor and a DoorDash delivery driver, brought her 7-year-old to drop off supplies to support the protesters and hang out with some of the characters. “We’re not going to just stand back and let our community be taken and targeted,” Jones said. “We’re going to make it as inconvenient as possible.”
Portland police also arrested two more people. Eric Sanchez, 32, of Kelso, Washington, was arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault and second-degree robbery in connection with an alleged assault Sept. 28.
A second man was arrested in connection with a “disturbance” outside the ICE facility around 10 p.m. He ran from police and swam across the Willamette River to Ross Island, where police arrested him around 1:30 a.m. after taking a boat to the island and using K-9 units to track him.
Meanwhile in Southeast Portland, Protect Oregon threw “a giant puppy party” late Tuesday afternoon at Revolution Hall. An event poster explained: “Oregon is home. Not a military target. No violence against our people, our dogs, or our communities.” A few dozen people and their puppies answered the call to send the message to keep “paws off Portland.”
Kotek orders Oregon National Guard home
Gov. Tina Kotek has told the U.S. Northern Command to send Oregon’s National Guard members home after a federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump had no authority to call them up.
About 200 Oregon National Guard members have been stationed at Camp Rilea on the coast, and another 200 California National Guard members have been at Camp Withycombe near Clackamas, according to the governor’s office.
Kotek said both groups should be released right away — the Oregonians back to their homes and the Californians back to their state.
In a letter Kotek sent Tuesday to General Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, the governor described the mobilization as an “illegal mission” that put Oregon’s soldiers in an impossible position.
Feds grant ICE building access to conservative media, influencers
Footage from atop the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland has become a noticeable fixture of the coverage of protests there in recent days. But, despite requests directed to the federal agency’s public information officers, not all news organizations have been granted the same access to the facility and the people who work there.
What’s next? Fight could go before appeals court Thursday
A federal appellate court has tentatively set a hearing for Thursday morning on the Trump administration’s push to put a pause on an Oregon federal judge’s order barring the president from sending National Guard troops into federal service in Portland.
The hearing is set to be held remotely at 9 a.m. before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but a three-judge panel of the court may also choose to decide the matter solely on the briefs submitted to the court.
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