Demand Accountability and Oversight for ICE Operations

I am writing to urge you to demand immediate accountability and oversight for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that have eroded public trust and endangered community safety. Recent incidents demonstrate a dangerous pattern of federal overreach and misinformation. In Portland, Oregon, ICE agents shot and wounded two people outside a hospital. The Department of Homeland Security claimed the driver tried to run agents over and labeled the passenger a Venezuelan gang member tied to Tren de Aragua. However, local officials have expressed deep skepticism about this narrative. Portland's mayor stated plainly that "There was a time we could take them at their word. That time is long past." Oregon's attorney general is now investigating whether federal officers acted outside their lawful authority. In Minnesota, immigration officers fatally shot Renee Nicole Good. These shootings follow a troubling pattern where official accounts of ICE encounters have been contradicted by video evidence and witness testimony. When every encounter is framed as a near-death ambush and every immigrant is described as a gang member, real warnings become meaningless. This approach replaces community-based public safety with federal militarization and propaganda. Portland has been specifically targeted by this administration, with threats of National Guard deployment to punish the city for its policies. Senator Jeff Merkley has warned constituents not to "take the bait" of provocative federal actions designed to justify further crackdowns. Local officials are demanding ICE halt operations altogether until transparency and accountability are restored. I urge you to support congressional oversight hearings into ICE operations, demand body camera footage and independent investigations of all use-of-force incidents, and condition ICE funding on compliance with transparency requirements. Federal law enforcement must operate with the consent and trust of the communities they serve, not as ideological foot soldiers deployed against cities with different political views.