Portland Housing Complex Residents, Management Sue DHS After Getting Caught In Clashes

As public demonstrations and protests against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown continue across the United States, a neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, has been caught in the crossfire between protesters and immigration agents.

The killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis have sparked new protests nationwide, and Portland's South Waterfront neighborhood has become the site of demonstrations drawing hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. The constant unrest has created ongoing disruptions for residents of a housing complex located just a few feet from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, and tenants are now suing the federal agency.

After months of clashes between protesters and agents, tenants of Gray's Landing took their complaints to court, arguing that their living conditions have become unbearable in recent months. The lawsuit cites the repeated use of tear gas to disperse large crowds outside the ICE office, which residents say has caused health problems, as well as incidents in which some tenants were struck by rubber bullets.

The lawsuit, reported by The Washington Post, argues that the conduct shown by federal agents has been excessive and asks a judge to bar them from using tear gas except when the lives of officers are threatened.

The motion was filed by the property management company that operates Gray's Landing along with a group of residents, who said federal agents' actions have appeared disproportionate and have for months made life in their homes difficult.

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One of the tenants included in the complaint is Whitfield Taylor, who said his children, ages 7 and 9, have missed several days of school and required urgent care after inhaling tear gas.

"Sometimes when federal officers are using gas and flash-bangs, my children hide in the closet of my bedroom and build a fort there to feel some sense of safety," Taylor said, according to court documents.

Similarly, a woman identified as Mindy King said she purchased gas masks for herself and her 13-year-old son to wear at home, alleging that a federal agent appeared to target her in October by firing a tear gas canister toward her apartment as she live-streamed footage of a protest from her balcony, which faces the ICE facility.

As noted by The Washington Post, other residents at Gray's Landing have said they sleep wearing gas masks or in their bathtubs to avoid tear gas that infiltrates their homes.

As recently as Jan. 31, the street where Gray's Landing and the ICE field office are located was the scene of a large protest involving thousands of people. As reported by The Oregonian, federal agents dispersed the crowd using tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bangs.

Those confrontations have had broader consequences. Residents have complained that the protests violate noise ordinances and a charter school permanently relocated from its site next to the ICE facility last summer after condemning federal agents' use of tear gas near the school, the Post reported.

In a recent statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin shifted blame for the confrontations to what she described as "rioters" who have set off fireworks, thrown objects and, in some cases, assaulted federal officers near the ICE facility.

"The fact that this particular location is experiencing this behavior more frequently than most others is not remotely ICE's fault," McLaughlin said. "That lies squarely with the rioters and with the state and local authorities who fail to maintain law and order on their streets."

Despite McLaughlin's comments, U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut said last November that the protests had been "predominantly peaceful" and barred the administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland.

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