Oregon ICE Activity—Weekly Update (3/20/2026)
Trump Still Wants to Tear Gas You
No news is good news, right? We aren’t that lucky. The Trump administration has appealed both of the district court decisions restricting federal agents’ ability to use crowd control munitions at the Macadam ICE building.
The Department of Justice asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to block both preliminary injunctions immediately.
“The district court entered a sweeping preliminary injunction that effectively prohibits the use of common crowd-control devices to disperse violent or disruptive crowds at the facility,“ Brenna Scully, a Justice Department attorney wrote in the appeal.
Scully is correct for the most part, but those strict limitations are also intentional based on the inability of federal agents to properly use crowd control weapons at the ICE building, even failing to follow DHS protocols. In court depositions, federal agents were not able to recall a definition of “passive resistance,” while also admitting that they broke DHS protocol by pepper spraying protesters engaging in passive resistance.
Scully also argued the restrictions are a danger to officers and the public because it forces officers to use hands-on tactics. Agents frequently used hands-on tactics even when they were allowed to use chemical munitions. Judge Micahel Simon—who issued one of the injunctions—found federal agents had an unwritten policy to use excessive force, in part to chill free speech.
Where the Trump administration’s appeal could be more likely to succeed is in the lack of protections for property in the district court orders. The injunctions only allow for the use of crowd control weapons if there is a clear threat to officers or another person. As such, pepper balls, pepper spray, tear gas, and other crowd control weapons are not authorized if protesters trespass or damage property.
Both of the injunctions are now in limbo as decisions from the 9th Circuit are still to come.
In other news, ICE detentions have remained low in Oregon in the past month. Between March 11 and March 16, one identifiable detention was reported to the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition—additional detentions were reported, but only for unknown individuals.
As ICE-related news remains infrequent compared to the surge from October to December, I will continue reporting on other topics and make videos covering national and international developments.
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