Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters flooded downtown Portland on Sunday, marching from City Hall to a federal immigration facility and temporarily shutting down major roads as tensions escalated into clashes with federal agents.
The demonstration was organized by Portland Contra Las Deportaciones, an immigrant rights group that held a rally at City Hall before leading the crowd to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in the city’s South Waterfront area. Video captured by Fox 12 Oregon showed demonstrators carrying signs demanding ICE leave Portland and calling for accountability in the January deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“People are outraged, and I think people are seeing that our leaders have routes that they could be taking,” said Cami Saunders of Portland Contra Las Deportaciones during the rally.
As the march reached the ICE facility, the situation deteriorated. Footage from the scene showed federal agents firing tear gas, pepper balls, and deploying flashbang grenades as protesters gathered outside the entrance of the building, which has served as an ICE field office since 2011.
A protester identified only as Robin described the moment federal agents confronted the crowd.
“About eight or 10 of them came out with guns, whatever kind of guns they have, and flash bombed, just started throwing them at the crowd,” she told Fox 12. “It was like a war zone.”
Robin said she was struck by crowd-control munitions and had to flee the area to rinse her face with water. “It felt like we were under attack,” she added.
The confrontation comes as anti-ICE activism intensifies nationwide, with far-left groups increasingly organizing protests aimed at federal immigration facilities. Similar demonstrations and clashes have recently unfolded in Minneapolis and on college campuses, where student groups have aligned with radical organizations calling for a national shutdown of ICE operations.
🚨 Minneapolis leftists are now setting up makeshift blockades and checking IDs to keep ICE agents from passing through.
Oh, the irony. pic.twitter.com/EPEsbOWKT4
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) February 1, 2026
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek sharply criticized the federal response, accusing ICE of overreach and abuse of authority.
“ICE has no place in Oregon,” Kotek wrote on X. “The use of tear gas against families, children, and peaceful demonstrators yesterday is a horrific abuse of authority that undermines public safety and violates constitutional rights.”
She called on federal agents to stand down and be held accountable.
According to the City of Portland’s website, the ICE facility includes a processing center where individuals are detained and interviewed to determine their legal status, as well as office space where immigrants meet with ICE officials as part of the citizenship and immigration process. The building is guarded by the Federal Protective Service, a Department of Homeland Security agency, rather than Portland police, though local officers may patrol nearby streets for public safety.
The protest highlights the deepening divide between federal immigration enforcement and progressive local leadership, with Portland once again emerging as a flashpoint in the national fight over ICE and border policy.
