I am currently in Newport, OR for a public hearing at city hall to listen to resident concerns on a potential ICE facility that officials are considering putting in town. The room is completely packed, the hallways are packed, there and tons of people protesting ICE outside and a packed rec center where the testimonies are being live streamed.
So far we have heard many testimonies from local residents including fishermen voicing their concerns about the possibility of an ICE detention center in town and concern about the removal of the coast guard helicopter.
DHS has said to be considering moving into a Newport Coast Guard air facility at the Newport Municipal airport, after they already displaced a Coast Guard helicopter some weeks ago at the property, concerning city officials who rely on that helicopter for safety along Oregon’s coastline.
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Alissa Azar
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Alissa Azar
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •A young girl just spoke about how her father was kidnapped by ICE a few weeks ago and went on about how difficult it has been for her and her mother. Lots of tears in the room.
Even as people continue speaking I can hear cars honking and people chanting “fuck ICE” outside
Alissa Azar
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Many people speaking out opposing ICE are continuing to draw attention to the helicopter relocation, bringing up how awful the timing is due to weather, but also that it is at the head of crab season and how Newport has the states largest commercial fishing fleet, further endangering fishers and tourists. Someone mentioned how the helicopters new location is 1.5 hours away from Newport. Far too long to save lives.
“Getting rid of a service that saves lives for an agency that destroys them is a disgrace,” said a Newport resident.
Alissa Azar
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •It has ended. Several people concluded with thanking city council and the mayor for what they called a “facts finding forum.” There was a lot of misinformation and confusion with the potential new ICE detention center in Newport and people thinking the city was supporting it.
City officials clarified that they are unanimously against it and added that even the life saving helicopter got relocated and taken away in the dead of night with no notice to anyone.
There were so many people who spoke up tonight, over two hours worth of testimony from locals who were unanimously against it. Multiple residents made it clear that no matter what the city decided to do, they would refuse to let this happen.
Will
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Pair of D
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Alissa Azar
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Y’all I am so exhausted, before coming to Newport I was doing something and had an ICE encounter in Pdx (will share about that soon, it’s been a long day)… but I just have to say this real quick.
I love the Oregon coast. There is no coast in the world like it. Its breathtaking eeriness is something I will always cherish. But whenever I come I either interact with no one at all and am emo on the beach, or I chat with a few random people here and there.
What I witnessed today was so beautiful. Everyone was so kind and lovely. And the things people were saying were so heartfelt and… idk. It was just so genuine.
I feel like sometimes in a bigger city (especially one that is so fucking white *cries in Portland*) there’s unfortunately just a lot more performative sympathy and activism. There’s just so much ego involved. It’s nice being in a more rural area and hearing people genuinely care and fight for one another. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist in Portland because it does. But not like this. It’s jus
... show moreY’all I am so exhausted, before coming to Newport I was doing something and had an ICE encounter in Pdx (will share about that soon, it’s been a long day)… but I just have to say this real quick.
I love the Oregon coast. There is no coast in the world like it. Its breathtaking eeriness is something I will always cherish. But whenever I come I either interact with no one at all and am emo on the beach, or I chat with a few random people here and there.
What I witnessed today was so beautiful. Everyone was so kind and lovely. And the things people were saying were so heartfelt and… idk. It was just so genuine.
I feel like sometimes in a bigger city (especially one that is so fucking white *cries in Portland*) there’s unfortunately just a lot more performative sympathy and activism. There’s just so much ego involved. It’s nice being in a more rural area and hearing people genuinely care and fight for one another. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist in Portland because it does. But not like this. It’s just different. I know there’s a lot that goes into that, and unfortunately I am not awake enough to dive into the politics of it all. But yeah…
Newport you are beautiful 🖤
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Jon
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Alissa Azar
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Alissa Azar
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Team Housing Solutions (based in Texas) has withdrawn its inquiry seeking land at the Newport Municipal Airport. Still unclear what this means for the regimes plans. The city manager told community members that the city has not received any direct communication from DHS
thenewsguard.com/news_free/fed…
🍋 Superball ☀️
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Alissa Azar
in reply to 🍋 Superball ☀️ • • •Greg Johnston
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Alissa Azar
in reply to Greg Johnston • • •@GPJohnston you know I’m ashamed to say I have explored much of Washington but hardly any exploring at the Washington coast. Recs?
I made my way to Olympic National for the first time a few years ago and I was speechless. That was the only time I’ve been to the coast there. And I didn’t get to enjoy it or explore as much as I wanted because it was right after getting my ass kicked by the most insane hike ever lol.
I’m really into rocks and the most beautiful ones I’ve ever found were over there. Also there was a beach with feral cats everywhere I fell in love with
Mungen Cakes ✅
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Mungen Cakes ✅
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Alissa Azar
in reply to Mungen Cakes ✅ • • •Mungen Cakes ✅
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •Found it.
Federal defense contractor backs out of potential Oregon Coast ICE facility | News | thenewsguard.com thenewsguard.com/news_free/fed…
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Alissa Azar
in reply to Mungen Cakes ✅ • • •KatLS
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •The Great Llama
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •JFC, ICE. Stay the fuck out of Newport.
Thanks for covering this Alissa. I had no idea.
Sara
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •worth noting that USCG has pulled out of multiple coastal towns in the last few years, and it's caused problems
Bandon no longer has a dedicated boat and has been the scene of multiple accidents
Newport is farther from the NB USCG airbase than Bandon is so the safety issue isn't hyperbole
meanwhile Coasties have crummy facilities and Noem wants to personally sign off on all purchases above $10k
hell of a way to manage maritime safety
Weird Socks
in reply to Sara • • •I'm learning that politics on the Oregon Coast is potentially even more complicated than I had imagined.
Sara
in reply to Weird Socks • • •@ohmu it's a dynamic professional environment I tell you what
and the politics here does not map comfortably onto national or even I5 area issues
Alissa Azar
in reply to Sara • • •Sara
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •the reason the local paper keeps talking about "heroic civilians" rescuing people is because there's nobody else to do the rescuing
theworldlink.com/news/heroic-c…
Angel
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •🍁❄️💔🏔️
in reply to Alissa Azar • • •thank you so much for your detailed reporting on this! Taking away the USCG rescue chopper to put in an ICE facility is fucking NUTS. The Oregon Coast has very few places of safe harbor along its 400-ish mile length, and Newport is a major one – making it an obvious spot for a base of rescue ops. The fact that DHS just disappeared the already-reduced rescue capabilities of the port overnight without telling anyone is pretty fuckin hair-raising.
Not to mention that turning one of Oregon's few major ports into another nightmare-world concentration camp for kidnappings and torturing people (and presumably shipping them off to fuck-knows-where) is a fucking dystopian end-stage inversion of these often struggling coastal communities.