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An affordable housing nonprofit and group of nearby residents filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), asking the court to “preclude” the agency from deploying tear gas and chemical or smoke-related munitions that were affecting nearby homes in Oregon.
The suit comes amid months of clashes between DHS agents and anti-immigration-enforcement groups, including Antifa, outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility near Interstate 5, where illegal immigrants have been detained and processed.
The Gray’s Landing houses involved in the suit — which was brought by REACH Community Development and supported by the progressive groups Democracy Forward and Protect Democracy — lies kitty-corner to the ICE facility on the Willamette River.
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In the filing, the plaintiffs called DHS’ actions “shocking” and asked the court to ban immigration enforcement agents from using chlorobenzalmalononitrile (CS gas/”tear gas”) and other crowd control tools “unless the use of such munitions is necessary to protect against an imminent and concrete threat to the lives of federal officers or other persons.”
The suit claims officers have deployed pepper balls, CS gas and the like “toward and around” the low-income housing complex “repeatedly when faced with no violence from protesters or imminent risk of harm.”
The nearby residents claimed to have suffered acute respiratory distress, ocular burning sensations and post-traumatic stress disorder episodes due to ICE’s forceful enforcement strategies.
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“The government causing poisonous gas and chemicals to enter plaintiffs’ bodies violates their right to bodily integrity, which the Supreme Court has long recognized as a component of the right to liberty,” the suit claimed.
REACH CEO Margaret Salazar said that as a residential community, Gray’s Landing houses families, senior citizens, veterans and handicapped people who are “repeatedly exposed to chemical agents.”
“Children are coughing indoors, seniors are struggling to breathe, and daily life has become a source of stress and fear.”
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Democracy Forward leader Skye Perryman added that chemicals being used by the feds are also discouraging protesters from “using their voices.”
“Federal officers know that poison is flooding apartments where families live, where children sleep, and where seniors and veterans seek safety—and they keep using them anyway, fully aware of the severe harm they cause. There is no legal or moral justification for this use of force–it is a profound abuse of power and violates the U.S. Constitution. We are in court to stop it.”
Daniel Jacobson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement the government is “poisoning” residents.
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President Donald Trump previously tried to deploy Oregon National Guard troops to quell springtime unrest in Portland, while Oregon sits among the top five states with the largest year-to-year increase in ICE arrests according to the Salem Reporter.
More than 660 people have been arrested by the feds there in 2025.
After Trump indicated during the summer that DHS would be asked to focus on certain problem areas of the country, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek remarked, “I don’t take kindly to the fact that the federal administration is picking on particular cities.”
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In November, Sen. Jeffrey Merkley, D-Ore., slammed the administration for “disturbing” raids he said are “terrorizing our communities” and allegedly detaining people “solely” based on race.
“Trump is using ICE to stoke fear and uncertainty in our communities, shredding our Constitution in the process,” Merkley claimed.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, another Oregon Democrat representing Tillamook and part of Portland, led a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanding information on the types of irritants and munitions being used against protesters.
“More than a dozen advocates outside the facility have reported unprovoked attacks by Homeland Security police and FPS officers,” she claimed in the October missive, which was also signed by Merkley, Sen. Ron Wyden, and Rep. Maxine Dexter.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DHS for comment. While the agency did not directly respond for comment, Secretary Kristi Noem said in a recent statement that she will seek prosecution for all who doxx ICE agents.
“These criminals are taking the side of vicious cartels and human traffickers. We won’t allow it in America,” she said, as the agency appeared to defend its use-of-force tactics, citing the Portland facility being “under siege” for some time.
“Rioters have attacked law enforcement officials, destroyed federal property, and have posted death threats at the facility. Outside of the facility, graffiti on the sidewalk reads ‘Kill Your Masters’,” the agency said in a July statement.
“Across the country, federal law enforcement has come under attack. Gunmen opened fire on Border Patrol and ICE officers in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend on two separate occasions, seriously wounding two,” the statement added.
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