CRIME/DHS/IMMIGRATION: “Both of Oregon’s senators have demanded an explanation after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in plain clothes entered a home in Portland without a warrant and arrested a man who was later released.
The arrest of the man, who was working on a renovation at the house on Thursday [10-19-17], was captured on a cellphone video by a co-worker who published it on Facebook, where it was viewed more than a million times.
News of the encounter spread, and United States Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats who had previously voiced concerns about how ICE is operating in their state, said the arrest ‘appears to be an illegal entry of a private home,’ according to a joint letter sent on Friday to a regional director at the agency.
The video, which is more than seven minutes long, begins after three ICE agents are already inside the house. One of them asks the man, identified by the senators as Carlos Bolanos, for his identification. The man asks why…
An ICE public affairs officer, Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, said later that Mr. Bolanos was released from custody pending further investigation. She said in a statement that the matter had been referred to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.
‘The agency is reviewing this incident,’ Ms. Pitts O’Keefe said. She did not reply to a request for further comment on Monday.”
-Matthew Haag and Christine Hauser, “ICE Arrested a Man in Oregon Without a Warrant. Senators Want to Know Why.,” The New York Times online, Oct. 24, 2017