Attorney says she had no access to detainees after ICE arrests in Lane County

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the federal building in Eugene kept an attorney from meeting with any of the detainees taken into custody in Lane County Nov. 5, according to a statement from the attorney filed in federal court.

The statement by Eugene attorney Katrina Kilgren is part of a legal push by advocates.

In an amended court filing, the Portland-based Innovation Law Lab has renewed its request for a preliminary injunction. The organization now has filed a request for class action status as it seeks to obtain a judge’s order requiring “meaningful” attorney access at ICE offices throughout the state before detainees are transferred outside of Oregon, according to a Thursday, Nov. 13, news release.

ICE officials in the court case have said they have no policy barring attorneys from offices like the one in downtown Eugene, but that priorities relating to security and processing, along with the temporary nature of immigration detention in Oregon, can prompt denials to attorneys seeking to meet with detainees.

The level of ICE activity in Cottage Grove and Eugene on Nov. 5 had not previously been seen, Kilgren earlier told Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin provided a statement to Lookout on Thursday, Nov. 13, about the enforcement activity.

“On November 5, ICE arrested nine illegal aliens in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and one illegal alien in Eugene, Oregon,” the statement began. 

“Jose Perez Pablo, a criminal illegal alien convicted of DUI on multiple counts, reckless driving, hit and run, and driving while suspended/revoked and Rafael Gaytan Hernandez, a criminal illegal alien convicted of DUI, were amongst those arrested,” McLaughlin said.

No court records in Lane County could immediately be found for Gaytan Hernandez, but Lane County Circuit Court records show a 2022 driving under the influence of intoxicants felony conviction for a Cottage Grove man named Jose Perez-Pablo.

Perez-Pablo was also convicted of additional misdemeanor charges and sentenced to two years of probation.

Kilgren’s statement

In a Nov. 12 court filing, Kilgren stated that at 7:09 a.m. Nov. 5 she emailed ICE officers “to request access to those detained that morning in Cottage Grove so that I and other attorneys could provide a legal orientation, pro bono legal screenings and offer representation.”

Upon arriving at 7:55 a.m., Kilgren found the federal building in downtown Eugene locked and, according to her statement, was told she had to wait until doors opened to the public at 8 a.m.

“At approximately 8:02 a.m., legal observers witnessed ICE transferring several people out of the building into a vehicle,” Kilgren said. “Thereafter, the security guard unlocked the door to the building and allowed me into the lobby. I was not permitted access to anyone and not permitted to move beyond the lobby.” 

At 8:10 a.m., an ICE officer “told me no one was currently detained at the Eugene facility.” The officer also told Kilgren “that he will only give attorneys access to prospective clients if he ‘has time,’” and that the transport of detainees would not be delayed to provide access to attorneys.

“He said that people detained and held at the Eugene ICE facility do not have rights and specifically, people detained at the Eugene ICE facility do not have the right to an attorney while at the facility,” Kilgren said in her statement, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene.

Access denied

Michael Velchik, an attorney with the federal Department of Justice, during oral arguments in the case Oct. 24, contrasted attorneys with an existing client relationship to someone being detained and “third parties and perhaps plaintiff’s organizations wanting the right to go into these facilities for people who they do not yet represent.”

But Kilgren’s Nov. 12 statement also included examples of not being allowed access to detainees despite having formal documentation that they are her clients.

“Despite having proof of my attorney-client relationship and my request that I be permitted [to] represent my client during these appointments, ICE refused to allow me past the lobby of the building,” Kilgren wrote of a Nov. 4 denial of access.

“I remained in the lobby for mere seconds with my clients until the building security guard, with the Federal Protective Service (“FPS”), threatened that if I remained any longer, they would consider me to be trespassing. I understood to mean they would press charges against me for trespassing if I did not exit the building.”

Senior U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken on Oct. 29 denied a request for a temporary restraining order in the case, setting a Dec. 12 date for a hearing to consider more evidence. Innovation Law Lab on Oct. 16 first filed the request for a judge’s order on behalf of CLEAR Clinic and Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste. The amended complaint is also filed on behalf of a 32-year-old man identified as Leon X, a pseudonym, as attorneys request class action status.

“When due process is respected and detained individuals are allowed to speak to attorneys, we can respond quickly with critical information about rights and legal options,” Kilgren said in an email Thursday, adding that “we hope the judge will rule in favor of due process protections for those taken by ICE in Oregon.”