Avalos Responds to Trump Deployment of Federal Agents

Portland, OR - Today Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos (District 1) issued the following statement in response to a social media post where President Trump said that he was directing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to "provide all necessary Troops" to Portland:

Trump is using his 2020 playbook again, but I want Portlanders to remember what 2020 was actually like. In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic and social isolation, we stepped onto the streets, arm in arm with our neighbors because it was our moral obligation to rise up for freedom, justice, and equality. It was the most powerful mass experience of being in community, for community, that many of us will ever see in our lifetimes.

Portlanders will always use our voices to speak out against injustice and hate. And we will not stop speaking out despite whatever lies they spread about our city. Because we know the truth: it was federal agents who inflamed tension, instigated conflict, and threatened the safety of Portlanders. It was Trump's federal agents who indiscriminately fired munitions and severely injured Portlanders. It was Trump's federal agents who acted unlawfully - not the overwhelming majority of Portlanders peacefully marching on our streets for racial justice.

The Trump administration is deeply unpopular with Americans and they're desperate to turn our city into propaganda that they can use to justify their authoritarian agenda. They think they can bully our city into betraying our neighbors through show of force. They're wrong. Portlanders are committed to standing with our immigrant, refugee, and asylee communities.

We keep each other safe. Report suspected federal agent sightings to the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition's hotline (1-888-622-1510) instead of spreading rumors on social media. Check in with your neighbors: can you help buy groceries if they don't feel safe leaving the house? Make sure you have a password on your phone instead of Face ID or fingerprint ID. If you choose to demonstrate, share your location with a loved one.

I understand that this is a scary and uncertain time, but no matter how many federal agents Trump sends in, all Portlanders still have rights under local, state, and federal law to free speech, free assembly, and due process. You don't have to speak to a federal agent, you don't have to consent to a search, you can ask if you are free to leave, you don't have to give your immigration status, and you don't have to let federal agents in if they don't have a warrant signed by a judge.

I made a promise to East Portland that I would fight for them and I'm not going to back down now. We're going to remind Trump why he lost the first time around.