Occupy ICE is a series of protests, modeled on the Occupy Movement, that emerged in the United States in reaction to the Trump administration family separation policy, with a goal of disrupting operations at several U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) locations.
The protests began in Portland, Oregon, on June 17, 2018, [1] under the moniker OccupyICEPDX after a rally against Donald Trump's "Zero Tolerance Policy" grew into a vigil and occupation which resulted in an ICE detention center there being closed indefinitely. Protests have taken place at ICE headquarters in New York, and at facilities in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Louisville, Washington state, and Utah. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
The movement arose following media reports of more than 2000 children being separated from their parents, after the parents were arrested for illegally crossing into the U.S. via Mexico. The family separation resulted from a "zero tolerance" policy enacted by Donald Trump in April 2018 as part of the Trump administration's immigration reform efforts.
While the protests have been likened to the Occupy Wall Street movement, the first series of Occupy ICE protests seen in Portland were unplanned and organic. The first camp in Portland grew from a rally organized by Jacob Bureros of Direct Action Alliance with support from local immigrant rights groups and attended by local leaders including former Portland NAACP head and current Portland City Councilor Jo Ann Hardesty and Oregon State Representative Chris Gorsek. A vigil to honor people who had suffered from the policies grew from participants in the rally and march who stayed and talked about how to potentially have more of an impact. [7]
On June 17, 2018, hundreds of protesters assembled outside of an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon at a rally called by Jacob Bureros of Direct Action Alliance. Following the rally, a group of activists decided to hold a 24-hour vigil to honor the victims of the "Zero Tolerance Policy" under the moniker OccupyICEPDX. Following confrontations between ICE agents and protesters which were broadcast by Direct Action Alliance on Facebook Live on June 18 and 19, a much larger group of people had gathered outside of the location by the 20th of June and Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced they would close indefinitely following the city police's refusal to respond to calls for assistance by immigration agents who claimed to be in danger, a claim that local police determined to be false (NOTE: the article in reference 8 does not support that the claim is false). [8] Law enforcement officers working for the federal government including Federal Police and ICE agents moved on demonstrators in the early hours of June 28, arresting multiple activists. [9]
The protest camp remained after the attempted sweep by law enforcement which only succeeded in clearing the front entrance to the facility, it has been described by federal officials as a "very, very peaceful" protest camp. [10] The camp had a well stocked kitchen with food and supplies being donated by local residents and many prominent local businesses; onsite child care was available along with basic medical care and even a massage and meditation tent. A 6-ft wooden barricade was constructed by the community to protect the camp from the street. Near to the camp the Department of Homeland Security built a separate barricade with federal police erecting a metal fence around the ICE building on July 2. [10]
It was reported on July 5 that three members of the protesters would consume only Gatorade until Portland officials removed ICE from the city in a self-proclaimed hunger strike. [11]
Senator Bill Cassidy called for Portland mayor Ted Wheeler to step down over the protests. [12] [13] [14] President Donald Trump also criticized Wheeler. [15] [16]
Outside of an ICE building protesters created a rotating group protest outside the facility to call for the abolishment of the facility and an end to the immigration detention center on June 27. [17] The activists stated they took inspiration and networked with other #OccupyICE groups, such as the groups in Portland and Philadelphia. [17]
A camp was created outside an ICE building in San Francisco, in July 2018. On July 3 protesters were witnessed blocking the driveway used by vehicles transporting detained individuals, with roughly 35 protesters claiming to not leave until the federal agency is abolished. [18] [19]
In the early hours of Monday, July 9, the camp was raided by the San Francisco Police Department. SFPD arrested 39 protesters, injuring several in the process. [20]
One year later on Tuesday July 30, 2019, the street in front of the ICE offices was again occupied by protesters advocating that ICE be abolished. A day long event billed as a block party became a tent encampment after dark. The encampment lasted until the early hours of the morning on August 1, 2019, when police arrested 18 persons including one youth, citing them for illegal lodging. [21]
An ICE building in Philadelphia was seen as the site of a camp on July 2, with police acting quickly to disperse the protesters, causing some arrests and injuries. Confrontations between protesters and police continued for five days until the camp was finally raided and moved to City Hall. [22] Protesters have raised demands that Philadelphia end its agreement with the federal government, to allow ICE to access to city police, court and prosecutorial records filed in the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS). The city decided to end the PARS contract. [23]
Protesters began occupying the ICE offices in downtown on the morning of July 2 with 20 tents. Initially, they had barricaded the entrance/exit of the parking lot for the agency's detainee transport vans. About two hours after the barricade was erected, the Department of Homeland Security destroyed it and several of the tents. [24] The protests continued for the whole day despite this, but protestors were forced to remain off of federally-owned property. [25] As of July 7, 2018, protestors and counter-protestors were still present behind police barricades. [26] On Thursday, July 19, Mayor Greg Fischer and Louisville Metro Police Department forced the removal of the protest. [27]
On July 2, it was reported that police threatened to arrest any protesters who didn't move, causing the protesters to move to a nearby private property. Police had previously claimed that protesters had thrown frozen water bottles and kicked officers, the previous day. [28]
In July 2018, protesters were asked to leave the parking lot of a private office building that had been rented for use of ICE officials. Wichita police officers and Department of Homeland Security Officers told the protestors that they had to leave the property as the owner did not want them to be there. Thus, many of the protesters moved to the nearby sidewalk as it was public property. [29] The building was being targeted as a place of protest as it was believed that it was a detention center for immigrants, although ICE officials claimed that it was an office complex and only housed undocumented immigrants while their paperwork was being processed. [30]
In June 2018, protesters placed tents in front of an ICE office within Detroit, Michigan to create a home-base, although it was dismantled after five days. Activists at the location claimed demands that included, a shutdown of the nations detention centers, immediate reunification of children with their families, abolishing of ICE, and asylum for all immigrant parents detained trying to enter the United States. [31]
It was reported on June 26 that the protest had a typical overnight population of just 20 people, but the group's numbers grow closer to 70 during day light hours. [32]
On June 22, dozens of protesters assembled at LA's Metropolitan Detention Center in protest of ICE. The protest quickly turned into a camp which also effectively served as a blockade to the main bus entrance for the entirety of its duration. On July 2, Councilman Mike Bonin was arrested alongside 17 other protesters while blocking an additional entrance. [33] On September 11, approximately 60 protesters blocked all entrances to the detention center. [34] The activists decamped on September 16, its 87th day, making it the longest running Occupy ICE encampment in the country. Over its course, 24 arrests were made, and the additional entrance was blocked multiple times. The camp continues to hold community vigils for the separated families every Friday evening at the detention center.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2018) |
At least nine protesters were arrested in Portland on June 28, according to The Oregonian . [35] In Philadelphia at least 29 protesters were cited by police for "Failure to Disperse" outside of ICE offices on July 2. [22]
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures.
The Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility was established in 1993 as the nation’s first publicly owned and privately operated adult secure correctional facility and is currently operated by the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation. This special non-profit, quasi-public detention facility was developed for use by the United States Marshal Service (USMS) in the Northeast and was later extended to include the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from 2005 to 2008 and again starting in 2019. Beginning in October 2011, the facility began serving the United States Navy, housing Navy personnel who have been placed in the custody of the General Court-Martial Convening Authority (GCMC). The facility operates at maximum security utilizing an architectural and high-tech design and construction containment system. A $47 million expansion was completed in December 2006 and increased the maximum occupancy from 300 all-male housing to its current capacity of 770 including a 40-bed unit for female detainees. It is the corporation's only facility.
Edward Tevis Wheeler is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Portland, Oregon since 2017. He was Oregon State Treasurer from 2010 to 2016.
Occupy Portland was a collaboration that began on October 6, 2011 in downtown Portland, Oregon as a protest and demonstration against economic inequality worldwide. It is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on September 17, 2011.
The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and economic justice and different forms of democracy. The movement has had many different scopes, since local groups often had different focuses, but its prime concerns included how large corporations control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and causes instability.
Occupy Oakland refers to a collaboration and series of demonstrations in Oakland, California, that started in October 2011. As part of the Occupy movement, protestors have staged occupations, most notably at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall.
Occupy Melbourne was a social movement which took place from late 2011 to mid 2012 in Melbourne, Australia as part of the global Occupy movement Participants expressed grievances concerning economic inequality, social injustice, corruption in the financial sector, corporate greed and the influence of companies and lobbyists on government. Protests began on 15 October 2011 in City Square with a 6-day-long protest encampment, from which people were forcibly evicted by Victoria Police at the request of the City of Melbourne CEO on 21 October 2011. From 2 November 2011, Occupy set up camp in Treasury Gardens before being moved on from that location in December. A significantly diminished number of protesters set up camp at Father Bob's church at his invitation until his retirement in January 2012. Physical manifestations of the movement had largely dissipated by mid-2012 though it adopted a strategy of decentralisation and became influential in the creation of new community networks, affinity groups and collectives.
Occupy San Francisco was a collaboration that began with a demonstration event located at Justin Herman Plaza in the Embarcadero and in front of the Federal Reserve building on Market Street in the Financial District in San Francisco, California. It is based on the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on September 17, 2011 and is one of several "Occupy" protest sites in the San Francisco Bay Area; other sites include Occupy Oakland and Occupy San Jose.
The Occupy movement began in the United States initially with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City, but spread to many other cities, both in the United States and worldwide. This list article is an alphabetical, non-chronological summary of Occupy events that have occurred in cities in the United States.
The following is a timeline of Occupy Oakland which began on Monday, October 10, 2011, as an occupation of Frank H. Ogawa Plaza located in front of Oakland City Hall in downtown Oakland, and is an ongoing demonstration. It is allied with Occupy Wall Street, which began in New York City on September 17, 2011, and is one of several "Occupy" protest sites in the San Francisco Bay Area. Other sites include Occupy San Francisco and Occupy San Jose.
Patriot Prayer is a US far-right group founded by Joey Gibson in 2016 and based in Vancouver, Washington, a suburban city in the Portland metropolitan area. Since 2016, the group has organized several dozen pro-gun, pro-Trump rallies held in liberal cities in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. Often met with large numbers of counter-protesters, attendees have repeatedly clashed with left-wing groups in the Portland area. Far-right groups, such as the Proud Boys, have attended the rallies organized by Patriot Prayer, as well as white nationalists, sparking controversy and violence.
Protests against the Trump administration family separation policy are a reaction to the Trump administration policy of separating children from their parents or guardians who crossed the U.S. border either illegally or to request asylum, jailing the adults and locating the minors at separate facilities under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Abolish ICE is a political movement that seeks the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The movement gained mainstream traction in June 2018 following controversy of the Trump administration family separation policy. The movement proposes that ICE's responsibilities be subsumed by other existing immigration agencies, as was the case before its creation. Discussions are particularly focused on the enforcement wing of ICE.
The Trump administration has detained migrants attempting to enter the United States at the United States–Mexico border. Government reports from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General in May 2019 and July 2019 found that migrants had been detained under conditions that failed federal standards. These conditions have included prolonged detention, overcrowding, and poor hygiene and food standards.
Never Again Action is a Jewish political action organization in the United States that uses civil disobedience and nonviolent methods to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The organization derives its name from the slogan 'never again' which is often used in reference to the Holocaust.
Starting in May 2020, protests following the murder of George Floyd were held in the city of Portland, Oregon, concurrent with protests in other cities in the United States and around the world. By July 2020, many of the protests, which had been held every day since May 28, drew more than 1,000 participants. Protests continued into August, September, and October 2020, often drawing hundreds.
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) or Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), originally Free Capitol Hill and occasionally the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), was an unlawful occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The zone, originally covering two intersections at the corners of Cal Anderson Park and the roads leading up to them, was established on June 8, 2020, by George Floyd protesters after the Seattle Police Department (SPD) left its East Precinct building. The zone was cleared of occupants by police on July 1. Its formation was preceded by a week of tense interactions between protesters and police in riot gear which began on June 1 and escalated on June 7 after a man drove his vehicle toward a crowd near 11th Avenue and Pine Street and shot a protester who tried to stop him. Tear gas, flashbangs and pepper spray were used by police in the densely populated residential neighborhood. On June 7, the SPD reported that the crowd was throwing rocks, bottles, and fireworks, and were shining green lasers into officers' eyes. The next day, the SPD boarded up its building and moved out of the East Precinct in an effort to de-escalate the situation.
In June 2020, the Trump administration began deploying federal law enforcement forces to select cities in the United States in response to rioting and monument removals amid the George Floyd protests. Federal law enforcement elements were deployed under Operation Legend, Operation Diligent Valor, and the Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cited an executive order regarding "monuments, memorials and statues" as allowing federal officers to be deployed without the permission of individual U.S. states, as the federal government "has the right to enforce federal laws, investigate crimes and make arrests" within states.
The Red House eviction defense was an occupation protest at a foreclosed house on North Mississippi Avenue in the Humboldt neighborhood in the Albina district, a historically Black district of Portland, Oregon, United States.