U.S. Border Patrol recently arrested a man in Portland suspected of being a member of the designated terrorist group MS-13.
But Portland Mayor Mark Dion says the city police department did not assist in tracking down the immigrant suspect and definitely will not in the future.
He says it’s a matter of keeping the trust of residents.
“We don’t engage in joint efforts,” said Dion. “They do their work. We do our work. We’re here to preserve public safety, and in order to do that, people have to trust us and feel safe with us, so we don’t involve ourselves.”
Portland also has a city ordinance prohibiting the use of municipal resources to enforce federal immigration laws.
Further, Mayor Dion says he personally finds the targeting of city residents troubling.
“It’s unsettling, because a lot of people are doing their very best to make a life here, and the threat that they could be intercepted by a federal agent, I worry about that,” Dion said. ” I don’t think the government’s necessarily approaching this with its best foot forward, for sure.”
Dion did clarify that Portland Police would assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they’re personal safety is in question. ” Sure, if federal agents are subjected to life threatening responses and the public is at general risk, we’ll react, of course, not going to stand off,” said Dion.
U.S. Border Patrol arrested a 27-year-old El Salvadoran man in Portland on April 15 under suspected gang affiliation to MS-13. The El Salvadoran man is being detained pending his removal proceedings.
