By Seira Kitagawa and Eve Weston

Despite the short notice, roughly 50 people gathered at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza at 12:30 pm July 1 with signs and the American flag to stand up for neighbors in the community. The group marched over to the Federal Building on Pearl Street and East 7th Avenue, where the ICE office is located. 

Kaleigh Bronson-Cook of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and one of the leaders of the march, told the crowd that the parking lot is where ICE officials pick up people to drive them to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. 

Later that evening, around 40 protesters stood in front of the vehicle entrance in an attempt to block ICE from transporting five people detained at the facility without contact with legal counsel. Despite the protesters’ efforts, ICE was able to remove the detainees from the building via a side entrance. 

Protesters say the detainees were loaded into a vehicle parked along East 7th Avenue, and that a vehicle temporarily blocked East 7th Avenue to allow for the detainees to be loaded.

Eugene Police Department information officer Melinda McLaughlin writes in a statement that Eugene police were “contacted by federal agents regarding demonstrators blocking the entrance and exit of the driveway of the Federal Building and interfering with the staff ingress and egress to and from the facility.” 

McLaughlin adds that EPD assessed the scene, then left, later returning after federal authorities requested assistance again in regard to a criminal mischief and trespassing complaint. 

The EPD statement says that a federal law enforcement vehicle sustained damage and a report was taken by EPD off-site to “avoid any disruption to the ongoing demonstration.” The type or extent of damage was not given.

Katrina Kilgren has been serving as an immigration attorney since 2009. She sees the current situation as alarming, since the access to resources for immigrants and their rights are being taken away by ICE. Legal observers who volunteer to watch and to record any detentions at the Federal Building informed Kilgren that at least three immigrants who were scheduled for appointments were taken into custody at ICE office in Eugene during the week of June 16. 

Another factor that concerns Kilgren is the fact that people are coming into the Eugene ICE office from all over Oregon — from Medford, Portland and Bend. She says the Eugene ICE office seems to be the one detaining people in Oregon.

She says ICE blocked attorneys’ access to the building to be with their clients and did not respond to phone calls for advocacy last week. Eugene Weekly accompanied an immigrant who has asylum from Nicaragua to his appointment at the Federal Building on July 2 and waited outside the building with his supporters.

 Kilgren also stood outside since she was not allowed to go in with her client. The immigrant was released within 30 minutes from his appointment, and was scheduled for another “check-in” appointment in December to confirm any change in address and his status. 

In this time of fear, Kilgren and Bronson-Cook are encouraging immigrants to have a safety plan for what to do when dealing with ICE officials. They recommend Equity Corps of Oregon, which is a universal representation program that has served more than 12,000 immigrants and refugees since 2022. It provides free access to immigration legal services, access to funding for filings fees, technical and strategic support services, deportation defense, interpretation and translation services and more.

“It is wonderful that Eugene has taken a big stance and we are showing up,” Kilgren says as Eugeneans protest, provide support and volunteer to make sure that immigrants rights are respected. 

Bronson-Cook points out the lack of awareness by the community about what is happening in Eugene because of the invisible detentions and transfers to detention centers. 

“We can’t necessarily stop that right now,” she tells Eugene Weekly amid the chants, honks, waves and cheers. “We can let people know that this is happening.”

To seek support in immigration justice Equity Corps of Oregon can be reached at 1-888-274-7292 or EquityCorps.org.