Nine protesters were arrested in Portland, Ore., Thursday morning after occupying the entrance to an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility for more than a week.
Protesting the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, the group calling themselves “Occupy ICE PDX” attempted to shut down the facility.
Federal police in riot gear cleared the entrance to the building after had being shut down since Wednesday after the activists began camping outside, KGW8, an NBC affiliate, reported.
DEVELOPING: Police in tactical gear have moved in to oversee dismantling of protesters’ makeshift blockade of an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, early Thursday morning. https://t.co/nItGD42J7p – @KGWNews pic.twitter.com/EMhpnXhRm5
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 28, 2018
The front area of the ICE entrance is now cleared. @OPB pic.twitter.com/HTwbz8jr5T
— Ericka Cruz Guevarra (@erkagvra) June 28, 2018
The grounds will be now policed “for the foreseeable future,” Federal Protective Service spokesman Robert Sperling told KGW8.
While there were more protesters alongside the building, Sperling said the officers took no action against them because, “we don’t want to impede their freedom of speech.”
Organizers of the protest complained that since Portland is a sanctuary city, ICE’s presence was violating the law, KGW8 reported.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion,” Sperling told the news service.
This is one of many protests nationwide reacting to the strict enforcement of the law with many calling for open borders and the abolition of ICE altogether.
