QuickTake:

At least some of the detainees were from Central and South American countries, an advocate said, adding that some arrests were apparently made at the BLM office in Springfield.

Attorney advocates confirmed widespread reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity on Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Eugene and Springfield.

“We’ve been contacted by many members of the community about family members being arrested by ICE from their cars on their way to work,” said Christine Zeller-Powell, director of the Refugee and Immigrant Services Program at Catholic Community Services of Lane County.

Family members of “at least” 11 detainees reached out to Catholic Community Services of Lane County asking for help, Zeller-Powell said.

“I suspect there are more,” she added late on Wednesday afternoon, with no official estimate available. The detainees whose family members have reached out to her organization are from Central and South American countries, she said.

U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle earlier on Wednesday reported “an ongoing ICE operation” in Eugene and Springfield.

“We are in touch with Rapid Response Lane County and have made outreach to ICE to try to get more information,” Hoyle said in a social media post.

The enforcement activity took place at multiple locations, “really focused in Eugene and Springfield today,” Zeller-Powell said, including Bureau of Land Management offices where those detained had sought permits for forest harvesting activities.

At least one unconfirmed report of ICE activity also made its way to school officials in Eugene, though a spokesperson for Eugene School District 4J said no ICE or other law enforcement activity took place on school property.

“There was a report of an ICE detention and release of an adult near River Road/El Camino del Rio Elementary this morning,” spokesperson Kelly McIver said in an email. “We can’t verify any alleged ICE activity as we’re not provided that information.” 

Brian Richardson, a spokesperson for Springfield Public Schools, confirmed that no law enforcement activity took place Wednesday at Springfield schools.

Catholic Community Services of Lane County, a nonprofit organization, has helped link families to the Equity Corps of Oregon, which works to provide attorneys for all eligible immigrants in the state, Zeller-Powell said.

“It doesn’t appear that they were processed through the Eugene office, or at least most of them. We have heard from at least one family member that they received a phone call from their detained family member who was in Portland and said they were being taken to Tacoma,” Zeller-Powell said.

Some of those detained may have had pending asylum cases, for example, Zeller-Powell said.

“Their chance of getting out and being able to pursue permanent status here is greatly improved by having an attorney,” Zeller-Powell said.

She said Catholic Community Services of Lane County recently received financial support announced by Lane County to help families affected by federal immigration activity after ICE activity on Nov. 5. A federal spokesman said that on that day nine people were detained in Cottage Grove and one in Eugene.

Zeller-Powell said the county financial support is to help families affected by ICE activity, and “the number of families needing those services just greatly increased.”

Have something to say?

Send us a Letter to the Editor. Read our guidelines for Letters to the Editor here.