The City of Portland announced it will issue a land use violation notice against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building as it accused the agency of holding detainees in a manner that does not “comply with the conditions of the site’s land use approval.”
The city said it will issue the notice, which also references what it calls a second violation regarding boarded-up windows, on Thursday.
Landowners have 30 days after receiving a notice of violation to correct the issue. A fine can be issued if there is “substantial evidence of violation,” the city said Wednesday. The city’s permitting bureau can also initiate a “reconsideration” of a land use approval by scheduling a hearing at least 60 days after a notice is given, the city said. Decisions from the hearings officer can be appealed to the City Council.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Epoch Times’ requests for comment Thursday.
“ICE law enforcement is facing a nearly 700 percent increase in assaults against them. These doxxing websites that attempt to reveal ICE officers’ identity, and even their families and children, put our law enforcement in grave danger,” the agency stated on July 11.
It added that “rioters have attacked law enforcement officials, destroyed federal property, and have posted death threats at the facility,” and “outside of the facility, graffiti on the sidewalk reads ‘Kill Your Masters.’”
“Prominent politicians are actively encouraging these attacks by demonizing federal law enforcement, refusing to cooperate with lawful immigration enforcement, and even assaulting law enforcement themselves,” the statement read.
Under Portland’s sanctuary policy, city employees, including police officers, do not enforce federal immigration law. Oregon also has a sanctuary law that prohibits state and local law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement without a warrant.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump described living in Portland as “like living in hell” and said he was considering sending in federal troops, as he has recently threatened to do to combat crime in other cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, and Memphis. He deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer and as part of a law enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C.
“I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices,” the president wrote.
In 2020, during Trump’s first term in office, there were frequent protests and riots in Portland amid Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
