Civil Rights
SHERIDAN, Ore. — Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal prison in Sheridan Monday afternoon, rallying for the rights of the 123 undocumented immigrants being held inside.
They're also rallying against the policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which have led to hundreds of children being separated from their parents at the border.
Ten Mexican nationals are among 123 undocumented immigrants detained by ICE agents at the medium-security prison in Sheridan.
SHERIDAN, Ore. — Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal prison in Sheridan Monday afternoon, rallying for the rights of the 123 undocumented immigrants being held inside.
They're also rallying against the policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which have led to hundreds of children being separated from their parents at the border.
Ten Mexican nationals are among 123 undocumented immigrants detained by ICE agents at the medium-security prison in Sheridan.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer broke down at a press conference June 16 after he and other Democratic members of the Oregon congressional delegation visited immigrants imprisoned at the federal penitentiary in Sheridan.
Some of the 123 men transported to the prison June 7 were separated from their children as part of a hardline Trump administration policy.
SHERIDAN -- They came here from Central America, and Mexico, Brazil, China and India hoping to start a new, better life in the U.S. Then they ran smack into the Trump administration's hardnosed new immigration policy and now find themselves locked up in this tiny Yamhill Valley town.
The intense national debate over immigration hit home in Oregon, where 123 would-be asylum seekers have been moved into the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan over the last month.
Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation visited a federal prison Saturday where immigrants from Latin America have been transferred and blasted the Trump administration for separating parents from children.
Sen. Ron Wyden said that "what we saw over the last hour demonstrates that the Trump ‘zero tolerance' policy makes zero sense and shows zero understanding of American values."
SHERIDAN, Ore. -- Nearly two weeks after he was refused entry to an Immigrant Detention Center in Texas, an event that was broadcast live on Facebook, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and a few of his colleagues visited a federal prison where undocumented immigrants are reportedly being detained under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance policy."
Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, with House members Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader, demanded that the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately allow individuals being held at a federal prison in Sheridan, Ore., under the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance policy" to access legal services through free phone calls.