Elected officials express ‘alarm’ at Lane County ICE detentions

A day after reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulling over vehicles and making arrests in Eugene and Cottage Grove a group of state, local and national elected officials issued a broad statement of alarm. And Eugene’s police auditor launched an inquiry.

“We are alarmed by the reported actions carried out by ICE yesterday in Lane County, which included the violent detention of several Oregonians, and by the ongoing reports of individuals not receiving their constitutionally protected rights to due process and legal representation,” U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and 11 other elected officials said in a joint statement.

Oregon House Speaker Julie Fahey, state Senate President Pro Tempore James Manning Jr., state Senator Floyd Prozanski, state representatives Lisa Fragala, Nancy Nathanson, and John Lively signed onto the statement. Lively represents a Springfield district, while all the other are from Eugene.

Lane County commissioners Heather Buch and Laurie Trieger, as well as Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson, Eugene City Councilor Lyndsie Leech and Springfield City Councilor Kori Rodley also signed the statement.

“This was only the most recent in a series of aggressive raids carried out across the state in recent months. We are working together with community leaders and local law enforcement to learn more and ensure that all of our constituents are accounted for,” the statement said.

The elected officials said they “will use all tools at our disposal” to ensure protections under the Constitution “are upheld for the individuals” detained.

ICE officials have not confirmed the number of people detained. In Cottage Grove, an advocate on Wednesday described hearing from community members about seven people detained in three separate morning ICE vehicle stops, with some of those detained having active asylum applications.

Abelio Carrillo, with the Rural Organizing Project, also described a woman being handcuffed and injured in Cottage Grove after being pulled over despite having lawful permanent resident status. ICE officers released the woman after briefly detaining her.

In Eugene, at least two people were believed to be detained by ICE. Eugene police say they had no involvement in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity Wednesday, but the city’s independent police auditor on Thursday launched an investigation based on citizen complaints.

“The City of Eugene’s Independent Police Auditor has received a number of complaints from members of the community that the Eugene Police Department was involved in immigration enforcement activities on November 5, 2025,” Craig Renetzky, the city’s independent police auditor, said in a statement Thursday.

In a phone interview, Renetzky said the complaints were about ICE arrest activity believed to be at a street intersection in Eugene.

State law generally prohibits local and state police from assisting with immigration enforcement unless directed by a judicial warrant. Oregon’s sanctuary law does not, however, prohibit federal officers from arresting people on immigration violations.

“We’ll look at geolocation to see if there were any EPD units there. We’ll check radio traffic,” Renetzky said.

Video of an ICE arrest in Eugene posted by The Register-Guard newspaper did not show any obvious Eugene Police Department vehicles or personnel.

Melinda McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Eugene police, on Thursday said the department “has nothing to do with immigration, nor with raids yesterday.”

“The photos and videos being shared on social media are clearly not Eugene Police officers. We welcome any scrutiny and are glad that the City of Eugene has a Police Auditor so that any concerns can be independently reviewed,” McLaughlin wrote in an email.

The city’s police auditor will provide updates to the investigation at https://www.eugene-or.gov/1039/Police-Auditor.