Sixteen immigrant Oregonians, including farmworkers, were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Salem on Tuesday, advocates said.
In one of the incidents in the early morning hours, ICE smashed the windows of a van with people who were on their way to work, according to statement from Latinos Unidos Siempre, a group that develops Latino youth leadership, the farmworkers union Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, known as PCUN, and Oregon for All, a coalition of more than 100 organizations.
Advocates with the organizations said Tuesday’s arrests represent the highest one-day total of immigration arrests for the city in many years.
“These were Oregonians taken from the heart of Salem’s close-knit Latino community,” Reyna Lopez, president and executive director of PCUN, said in the statement. “This is where I grew up. It’s a vibrant and strong Latino community. We are heartbroken today.”
Lopez, who couldn’t be reached Tuesday, added that at least nine of the detained people were farmworkers.
“ICE is terrorizing the very people who feed our communities,” she said. “This will hurt the growers who rely on migrant labor and our collective ability to put food on our tables.”
Immigration authorities didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment on Tuesday afternoon.
Immigration enforcement ramped up in Oregon in October with more than 300 people arrested that month alone. In one day, on Oct. 30, some 35 people were detained in Woodburn. Of those detained in Woodburn, only six were able to access lawyers as of last week, and four of them were subsequently released, immigration lawyers and advocates said during a recent press conference.
Increased immigration enforcement has also been notable in Hillsboro, Beaverton, Gresham and Eugene in recent weeks. This week, immigration activity was also reported in Hood River and Seaside.
In Salem, witnesses also reported that ICE on Tuesday rammed a car on Ward Street, near the 76 gas station, advocates said.
“This is one of the toughest days we’ve seen in Salem yet,” a representative of Latinos Unidos Siempre said in the statement. “The community is really shaken.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.