Portland, OR took being a sanctuary city to the extreme and refused to answer 911 calls from ICE employees during a dangerous protest. According to the Daily Caller, there were at least two emergency calls ignored by the Portland police. The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, the union that represents ICE employees, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the city’s mayor, in which they ask Mayor Ted Wheeler to make sure ICE employees are equally as protected as other citizens.
We understand that you have a difference of opinion with the current President of the United States, and some of his policies, but we fail to see why targeting the employees of ICE and leaving them vulnerable to violence, harassment and even death furthers a legitimate government interest. Your policy has created a zone of terror and lawlessness. We ask that you end your policy of not responding to calls for police services from ICE employees immediately. Our membership has been the subjected to threats of physical violence and harassment since you announced your policy.
In July, Occupy ICE protesters camped out in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, causing all sorts of mischief and mayhem. At one point, they had a Donald Trump piñata doll, which they placed into a guillotine to shouts of “off with his head.” As gleeful protesters took knives to slice up the presidential doll, candy spilled out and was snatched up by greedy activists. The siege lasted for weeks; when they were finally removed, the area was so filled with garbage and waste it was deemed a biohazard.
According to Willamette Week, two employees called 911 for assistance because they were being blocked from leaving the building in their vehicles, but were denied any help. One of the employees said protesters followed him as he drove to pick up his daughter from summer camp and even harassed him in the parking lot. The same employee claimed some of the activists showed up later at his apartment building, but when he called police, they did not respond.
The Federal Protective Service (FPS), a division within the Department of Homeland Security, requested assistance from the Portland Police Department. Deputy Chief Bob Day denied the request in an email on June 19, saying:
“At this time I am denying your request for additional resources from PPB. I recognize this is a fluid situation that will need continuous monitoring. I am willing to revisit this inquiry after you have exhausted all alternative options besides arrests and maximized the use of FPS resources. We will respond to [calls] for assistance if your officers are assaulted and need us to facilitate a safe exit from the conflict.”
Chris Crane, president of the ICE employee union, said the situation with Occupy ICE was made more dangerous and out of control because local police would not assist them, and the protesters knew it:
“Every person in law enforcement knows there are few things as dangerous or as unpredictable as an angry mob. No one could have responded quickly enough to protect our employees who were trapped inside this building. All of this because the mayor of Portland has a beef with the president of the United States.”
The union’s letter to the mayor makes it clear that a lawsuit is imminent if the policy isn’t changed so that ICE employees are protected as equally as other citizens. “We are requesting a meeting with you to discuss how you can provide law enforcement services to ICE employees,” the letter states. “We would like to avoid federal litigation, but we are prepared to protect our membership and their families.”
Jurisdiction is one thing, but the left’s crazed lunacy has gone so far off the deep end that we now have public safety officers refusing to help citizens just because of where they work. What’s next? Will they refuse to help people based on where they live or the make and model of the car they drive?
