ICE Beat says Keep Filming
Two related cases surrounding the use of chemical munitions at the ICE facility on Macadam Ave reached a federal appeals court on Tuesday, April 7. For months, agents at the facility used munitions such as tear gas, pepperballs, and rubber bullets liberally during nightly protests outside the facility. After outrage from city and state officials after federal agents released tear gas on a crowd of thousands of protesters, including children, a US District Court judge in early February placed a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the use of chemical and projectile munitions by officers at the facility unless they believed themselves to be at risk of physical harm. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon on behalf of protestors and journalists who alleged indiscriminate use of munitions such as tear gas and rubber bullets. The judge upheld the TRO in an order on March 9. Three days earlier, a similar case brought by residents of an apartment complex across the street that had been impacted by the tear gas released at the facility, resulted in a preliminary injunction from a separate district court judge barring federal agents from using tear gas in quantities that would be likely to reach the apartment complex.
Since the TRO imposed on chemical and projectile munitions, agents stopped releasing gas on the crowds, and the often daily use of pepperballs and rubber bullets came to a halt. Both rulings were paused by the Ninth District Court of Appeals in late March, granting a request from the Department of Justice (DOJ). The decision came just days before a third No Kings protest was scheduled in Portland and cities across the country on March 28. Regular protestors at the facility expected a significant crowd to gather after the official No Kings protests nearby came to an end. Several protestors said they prepared for, and even expected, the use of tear gas given the larger than normal group of demonstrators, and recently reversed restrictions of chemical crowd control tactics.
The No Kings gathering was the largest demonstration at the Macadam facility since the TRO had been issued, and tear gassing had stopped. The crowd was confrontational and even broke the facility gate, which no one who spoke with the Quest had ever seen before. Still, the agents did not deploy crowd control munitions. Instead, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and state troopers were called to the scene to maintain crowd control while the gate was repaired. Shortly after they left, the protestors managed to break it open once more. Again, there was no release of tear gas or similar munitions. PPB returned to the scene later, after reports of vandalizing and “criminal mischief," but federal agents stayed mostly unresponsive in comparison to their conduct before the TRO. In previous cases of a protester stepping foot onto the facility driveway, federal agents often deployed pepperballs or other projectiles, and sometimes tear gas canisters. Those who regularly attended protests at the facility during the summer and fall described watching agents shoot non-lethal munitions even when the target was clearly off federal property, or even standing across the street, and presented no clear threat.
Demonstrators and freelance journalists alike were surprised by the lack of response from federal agents in the facility even without a judge's order. The restraint of the Macadam agents speaks to a broader shift across the country in agent conduct. This comes as the Trump administration has rolled back rhetoric and switched up leadership in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in response to political backlash to aggressive tactics and violence from agents. Deportation officers are more focused on targeted arrests rather than the sweeping raids in broad daylight that characterized much of 2025.
Federal immigration officers continue to carry out the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda, but conduct the detainments in a less visible manner. Even with the shutdown of the DHS, national attention is shifting away from the issue while immigrants detained by ICE find themselves in the same mass deportation centers, and their families continue to live in fear.
On the same day as the Ninth District heard arguments on agents’ use of force in Portland, ICE officers shot an undocumented immigrant in Central California. The agents claim the man, who they identified as Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, attempted to run over an officer with his car when they fired defensive shots. ICE officers in Minneapolis made a similar claim in early January when they shot and killed Renée Good. However, bystander videos from multiple angles contradict the officers’ account. The day before the shooting in Central California, the New York Times reported another shooting in Minneapolis, this time of an immigrant from Venezuela who was mischaracterized by federal immigration enforcement. The two shootings fit into a broader pattern of video footage challenging the claims of DHS agents during violent confrontations, including yet another shooting in Minneapolis, when Border Patrol officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, after he had been pinned to the ground and disarmed. While visible incidents of aggression and often unjustified violence from immigration enforcement has slowed since January, this pattern raises questions about official accounts when there are no bystanders or nearby cameras.
Two of the three judges on the appeals court panel that heard the arguments on the Macadam ICE facility cases are Trump appointees, but the judges expressed some skepticism at the DOJ’s arguments. While the pause on the orders has not resulted in a clear change in the agent’s behavior, it remains to be seen if a final verdict in favor of the DOJ would have a different outcome, or if the political pressure for DHS to rein in its agents will change after the 2026 midterm elections.