The Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s regional office in Portland, Ore., has suspended operations amid protests over the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy to prosecute all illegal immigrants.
Protests outside the office began on Sunday, prompting the office to temporarily close operations starting on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the regional office said that ICE “fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion without interference. ICE remains committed to immigration enforcement consistent with the federal law and agency policy,” per NPR.
He said “operations at this location have been temporarily halted due to security concerns. Normal operations will resume once security concerns have been addressed.”
Protests have occurred throughout the U.S. in response to the zero tolerance policy that prompted thousands of children to be separated from accompanying adults. For example, an interfaith network of local congregations protested the policy in D.C. on Thursday.
Although Trump previously claimed a 2016 court decision demanded either families be separated or the government ignore immigration law, he signed an executive order Wednesday to prevent the zero tolerance policy from splitting up families.
“We’re going to have strong — very strong — borders, but we are going to keep the families together,” Trump said Wednesday. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”
The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it will start keeping verified family units together, but said that those already split will not be reunited until the adult’s legal case has finished.
