ICE is Active in Portland, What Happens when ICE Appears at WSU-V?

The second Trump administration has promised to undertake the “largest domestic deportation operation” in US history, which includes a significant increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids into US cities and public places.

The Portland area is no exception to this operation. As the year goes on, there has been a growing presence of ICE agents conducting operations in the Portland Metro area. 

Since September, Portland has been in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration, with an increasing influx of ICE agents conducting operations in the area.

Reports have come in from across the nation that many students feel afraid of attending classes, in fear of being detained or their families being detained. At its extreme, some professors are even noticing drops in enrollment, like at Portland Community College.

If ICE were to appear on campus at WSU-V, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Domanic Vanthom said that faculty are expected to send agents to the Chancellor’s Office, where they will then get in contact with the Attorney General’s Office in order to evaluate any active warrants or detainers.

If students are approached by an ICE officer with a warrant or subpoena during school hours, they are asked to direct the officer to the Chancellor’s office too. If students are approached after school hours, they should contact WSU Public Safety at 509-332-2521, who will then assist in contacting the Attorney General’s Office.

“At that point, we adhere to what we have to based on federal law” Vanthom said.

Vanthom said that as far as he knows, there is no protocol to inform students, no “live time, campus-wide immediate notification,” in the immediate moment that ICE agents appear at WSU-V campus.

“In terms of what does it look like for a student who has been detained or would be detained, they’re our students so we’re going to help and support them in whatever way we can,” Vanthom said.

“Sometimes that’s contacting emergency contacts. Really it’s listening to what the students may need,” Vanthom said. “Whatever it may be, it can look like a hundred things. As long as that person is our student, we have a care and support [system] that we engage in.”