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ICE Responds to Oregon Lawmakers Inquiries

October 26, 2017

Lawmakers Asked Agency to Follow Up on Incidents in Oregon

WASHINGTON, DC [10/26/17] – Today Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) released the response they received from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the lawmakers repeatedly asked about the agency's policies and procedures.

In September, Bonamici and Blumenauer asked ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan and ICE Acting Field Office Director Elizabeth Godfrey to investigate a September 18 incident near the Washington County Courthouse and to provide answers about ICE agency policies for interrogation and apprehension. The Acting Field Office Director in Portland responded to the lawmakers inquiry. The lawmakers again pressed ICE Acting Director Homan for answers after plainclothes ICE officers entered a private home in Oregon without a warrant and arrested an individual on October 19.

You can download a copy of the response from ICE headquarters here.

Bonamici and Blumenauer responded, "Though we appreciate ICE acknowledging our letter, the response is highly contradictory. If the two Oregon incidents are under review, how can ICE also conclude that officers followed all policies and procedures?"

"Our constituents in Oregon are deeply concerned by these aggressive actions. ICE must be held accountable when enforcement encroaches on civil liberties."

This week, the lawmakers called on the Judiciary and the Oversight and Government Reform Committees to exercise their oversight authority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and hold hearings about the agency's policies and procedures.

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