Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Bynum and Dexter Tell Trump Administration to Withdraw Agents Deployed to Portland Outside ICE Facility

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley along with U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Janelle Bynum and Maxine Dexter today demanded the Trump administration withdraw the federal agents it’s deployed outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland in response to the agents’ excessive use of force that’s needlessly and dangerously inciting violence.  

“Your federal agents weren't invited, they aren't needed, and their presence has fomented the very violence you claim they are there to prevent,” the five Oregon Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Kristi Noem. “Photos and videos from our constituents and local media make clear that federal agents are needlessly using tear-gas against peaceful community members.  Reports indicate, and videos show, that unprovoked federal agents have charged and knocked down peaceful protestors, including seniors and an elderly Vietnam War veteran.  Constituents told us that federal agents have deployed unknown projectiles that have injured them.  Many federal agents are fully masked and are continuing to hide any identifying information, which prevents our constituents from filing reports about any federal agents’ misconduct.”

Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Bynum and Dexter also wrote Noem that The Cottonwood School, a K-8 school next to the ICE facility in southwest Portland, made the difficult decision to find a new location in August because of ongoing exposure to tear gas and other munitions used by Trump’s federal agents. And the lawmakers also noted that residents at Gray’s Landing, an adjacent apartment complex home to many disabled veterans, keep expressing deep concern about the effects of this ongoing exposure.

“This is not the first time our constituents have experienced such excessive use of force by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) federal law enforcement,” wrote Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Bynum and Dexter.  “In 2020, federal agents responded to largely peaceful First Amendment activity by firing “less-lethal” rounds at protestors and by using tear gas on them night after night.”

“The use of tear gas was indiscriminate, and chemicals contained in these aerosols spread to surrounding areas on a nightly basis,” they wrote. “In fact, the City of Portland and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality identified a higher presence of cyanide and heavy metals near the sites where federal law enforcement personnel were deployed, and environmental groups expressed contamination concerns in the groundwater and Willamette River. Residents of downtown Portland were exposed to these dangerous chemicals regardless of their participation in the protests, and at least two dozen women who were exposed to tear gas in Oregon reported significant abnormalities in their menstrual cycles, which Oregon physicians believe to be connected to the use of chemical agents.”

The five Oregon lawmakers asked Noem to answer by Oct. 17, 2025 questions that included the number of federal law enforcement agents deployed in Portland in response to activities around the ICE facility and other federal buildings, under what authority they’re acting, if they’re wearing any identifiable badges, what equipment they’re using – including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, projectiles and flash bangs; and what training and guidance the federal agents have received.

The entire letter is here.

A web version of this release is here.