The mayor of Portland, Oregon, is demanding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave the city following a weekend confrontation in which federal agents deployed crowd-control munitions against demonstrators outside an ICE facility, as reported by Fox News.
Keith Wilson said the protest on Saturday was peaceful before agents used tear gas, pepper balls, flash-bang grenades, and rubber bullets on the crowd. According to the mayor, the demonstrators included families and young children.
The incident occurred outside an ICE facility in Portland, where anti-ICE protesters gathered to oppose federal immigration enforcement actions.
‘Resign’: Portland mayor issues scathing statement after protesters gassed at Portland ICE building https://t.co/0MyoXoiTQM
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) February 1, 2026
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Wilson condemned the tactics used by federal agents and accused them of violating constitutional protections.
“Today, federal forces deployed heavy waves of chemical munitions, impacting a peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces,” Wilson said in a statement released Saturday.
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He went further, directly calling on ICE personnel to quit their jobs and for the agency to abandon its operations in Portland.
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame,” Wilson said.
“To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children. Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people.”
Wilson also said the country “will never accept a federal presence where agents wield deadly force against the very people they are sworn to serve.”
“I share the impatience with those who demand we use every legal tool at our disposal to push back against this inexcusable, unconscionable, and unacceptable violence against our community,” he said.
“I share the need to act. Actions that can withstand the scrutiny of the justice system take time – and we cannot afford to lose this fight.”
BREAKING: Portland, Oregon Mayor Keith Wilson (D) calls on ICE to end all operations and leave Portland after two protesters were shot
Hey Keith, people can also just not try to kiII agents and then they won’t get shot.
ICE isn’t going anywhere! pic.twitter.com/dmg7uLlMis
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 9, 2026
Portland officials are now working to enforce a city ordinance that went into effect last month imposing a fee on detention facilities that use chemical agents. Wilson said the city is documenting the events from Saturday and preserving evidence related to the confrontation.
“As we prepare to put that law into action, we are also documenting today’s events and preserving evidence. The federal government must, and will, be held accountable,” he said.
The mayor added that Portland “will continue to stand firmly with our immigrant neighbors, who deserve safety, dignity, and the full protection of the communities they help build,” while praising protesters who attended what he described as a peaceful demonstration.
The Portland clash comes amid heightened national scrutiny of immigration enforcement tactics following two fatal encounters involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last month.
On Jan. 7, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis.
On Jan. 24, Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, was fatally shot by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez while recording immigration enforcement operations in the same city.
According to video and witness accounts, Pretti appeared to be attempting to assist a woman agents had knocked to the ground when he was sprayed with an irritant, pushed down, and beaten.
An agent was later seen removing Pretti’s lawfully owned firearm from his waistband before other agents fired several shots, killing him.
Those incidents have intensified bipartisan debate and public unrest surrounding federal immigration enforcement operations nationwide.
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