U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Monday cast blames on an Oregon mayor of violating the Constitution after emboldening “Abolish ICE” protesters by ordering the police to stand down and openly expressing support for their cause, Fox News informed.
The accusations were mentioned in a letter sent to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, saying he actively encouraged the protesters and their cause, while making sure Portland’s police wouldn’t crack down on them, thus creating “a zone of terror and lawlessness,” the Washington Times informed.
“When the mayor gave the order that police would not support ICE employees trapped in the facility, he turned the lives of our employees over to an angry mob,” Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council, the organization that sent the cease-and-desist letter, told the newspaper.
The letter demands Wheeler to make an apology and ensure the city’s police will protect all citizens in need, including those working for a federal agency. A letter advises that the city could be sued if the mayor’s response isn’t adequate.
“The mayor stated publicly that he supported the protests, which were supposed to be about protecting immigrant families. But what about the moms and dads that we had working in that building? What about their kids?” Crane continued. “These are questions that we’ll be expecting the mayor and city of Portland to be answering in the days to come.”
Portland is among the main centers of the nationwide movement to abolish the federal immigration authority, an idea that is increasingly being embraced by top mainstream Democrats in Congress, including U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
The city mayor’s support for the movement led to the occupation of a building being used by ICE, harassment of some ICE employees, and the creation of a camp on a city’s land.
“To all demonstrators: I urge you to keep up this effort,” Wheeler said in a press conference last week, according to The Oregonian, though advising protesters to vacate the ICE field office and the camp before the police disbands them.
He also said that the encampment, which has been branded as a biohazard by authorities, “deters from the main message” of getting rid of the immigration agency.
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