Federal officers use crowd control munitions as demonstrators protest outside outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland on Jan. 31, 2026. The demonstration at the ICE facility was part of an earlier protest, dubbed “Labor Against ICE,” which began this afternoon at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Federal officers use crowd control munitions as demonstrators protest outside outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland on Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Tear gas is deployed as hundreds of people protest outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Tear gas is deployed as hundreds of people protest outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Tear gas is deployed as hundreds of people protest outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Tear gas is deployed as hundreds of people protest outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Tear gas is deployed as hundreds of people protest outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Tear gas is deployed as hundreds of people protest outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Tear gas is deployed as hundreds of people protest outside of the ICE building in Portland, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Federal officers use crowd control munitions as demonstrators protest outside outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland on Jan. 31, 2026. The demonstration at the ICE facility was part of an earlier protest, dubbed “Labor Against ICE,” which began this afternoon at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Evelyn, whose parents identified her by first name only, blows bubbles while wearing an anti-Trump sticker on her dress at the rally.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Thousands of people have flooded Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland for the Labor Against ICE protest. Leaders from various unions told the large crowd that increased ICE enforcement is a labor issue affecting workers across Oregon.
Joni Land / OPB
SEIU Local 503 members cheer at the “Labor Against ICE” protest in Portland on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, which began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood, Jan. 31, 2026, and then marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Thousands attended the “Labor Against ICE” protest, which began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood, Jan. 31, 2026, and then marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Thousands attended the “Labor Against ICE” protest, which began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood, Jan. 31, 2026, and then marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Thousands gather for the “Labor Against ICE,” protest which began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Geovanna Lopez, a nurse, holds up a sign saying “ICE Murders Nurses” at the “Labor Against ICE” protest in Portland on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Thousands attended the “Labor Against ICE” protest, which began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood, Jan. 31, 2026, and then marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Thousands attended the “Labor Against ICE” protest, which began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood, Jan. 31, 2026, and then marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Federal officers deployed clouds of tear gas and other crowd control munitions, including flash-bang grenades, on Saturday afternoon outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland on demonstrators.
Federal officers used the chemical munitions after about two dozen protesters made their way onto the driveway area of the ICE building and near a security gate into the facility.
The demonstration at the ICE facility was part of an earlier protest, dubbed “Labor Against ICE,” which began this afternoon at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood. Portland police posted online that the “irritant gas” as of 5 p.m. had drifted far enough to allow officers to reopen traffic on South Macadam Ave. Other roads including South Bancroft are still closed.
Gas has dissipated enough to allow us to reopen S. Macadam Ave to traffic. S. Bancroft remains closed east of Macadam. PPB officers have NOT used munitions. Officers are monitoring.
— PPB Event Messages (@PPBAlerts) February 1, 2026
Portland police say they will continue to monitor the protest and that “people should absolutely expect to see officers in the area offering facilitation and public safety.”
Members from at least 30 unions are joining today’s rally to protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Leaders from various unions told the large crowd that increased ICE enforcement is a labor issue affecting workers across Oregon.
SEIU Local 503 members cheer at the “Labor Against ICE” protest in Portland on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Nathaniel Hancock works at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Beaverton and is a member of SEIU Local 49. After seeing what’s happening in Minneapolis, Hancock said he wanted to come out to show his support.
“There are a ton more people than I was expecting,” he said. “It’s pretty inspiring.”
Hancock said he doesn’t know what will come out of today’s protest, but hopes it builds on communities coming together during challenging times.
“I don’t know if today is going to change anything necessarily, but I really just hope that it builds some community and it builds some connections between people and builds solidarity between the working class,” he said.
Organizers told OPB Friday that it’s a level of union turnout not seen for many years in Portland.
“Something like this — where it isn’t because a union is out on strike, but rather workers speaking up — is not quite that common,” said Tyler Fellini, executive director of Portland Jobs with Justice.
Fellini said that’s due to the recent general strike by labor unions in Minnesota, which has captured the nation’s attention in response to a large influx of federal agents in that state.
Federal agents shot and killed Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, igniting a new wave of protests against the presence of ICE in Minnesota. Pretti was also a union member, prompting the president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO to call on ICE to leave the state.
“It has really kind of put a bit of urgency for labor to start showing up,” Fellini said. “I know that a lot of us want to.”
Saturday’s protests also followed a nationwide general strike, which called on all Americans to refrain from going to work or shopping, while encouraging businesses to close their doors for the day. Many Oregon businesses opted to stay open and donate a portion of their proceeds to causes supporting immigrants’ rights.
In Eugene, police declared a riot Friday night at the Federal Building after they said “some protesters breached the building and went inside.”
The riot followed hours of protest in Eugene, where demonstrators lined the streets around the building to rally against ICE as part of the nationwide general strike on Friday.
It’s unclear just how many people will show up to Saturday’s demonstration, but multiple unions told OPB there has been significant interest from their members. There are plans for separate demonstrations to join, as well.
Geovanna Lopez, a nurse, holds up a sign saying “ICE Murders Nurses” at the “Labor Against ICE” protest in Portland on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU Local 503, said many of their members have started carrying their passports on the job. No matter their citizenship status, many are fearful about potentially interacting with immigration agents, she said.
“I’ve heard from workers who have said, ‘The only time I ever leave my house is for my job,’” Unger said. “The fear is across the board, because it doesn’t feel like there’s rhyme or reason to how ICE is choosing to approach people or detain people.”
Meg Ward, president of CWA Local 7901, said there are still concerns that the federal government could launch an operation in Oregon on a similar level to what’s occurring in Minnesota. She said the protest could be a training ground for how labor unions in Oregon respond.
“This hasn’t happened before, and I think that there’s going to be more and more tests like this in our future here,” Ward said. “And we have to build upon it.”
Evelyn, whose parents identified her by first name only, blows bubbles while wearing an anti-Trump sticker on her dress at the rally.
Eli Imadali / OPB