US Immigration Enforcement Agencies Blurred Lines Raise Concerns Over Raids and Detentions in Oregon. The raids near Medford, Oregon, were part of a DEA-led federal drug investigation into psychoactive products sold at smoke shops around the country.
The ICE Detention Bus Incident Raises Questions About Local Police Involvement in Raids
Local volunteers monitoring ICE activity noticed something new on July 30. Vehicles from the Federal Protective Service, a law enforcement agency that secures federal facilities, were parked outside. Behind the barbed-wire fence, a long, white bus with tinted windows idled behind the gates with the words “GEO Transport Inc.” emblazoned on its side.
If GEO Group, a major private prison and ICE contractor was there, then immigration agents must be too. Five miles away, federal, state, and local law enforcement, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, were raiding cannabis farms. She drove to one of the farms, owned by a company called HempNova Lifetech Corp.
Outside, Warner was immediately approached by a spokesperson from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, which is barred from participating in most federal immigration enforcement by Oregon sanctuary laws. “This is not an ICE raid. This is just a drug bust.” Warner recalled the officer saying. That explanation would be echoed by spokespeople for other law enforcement agencies.
By the end of the operation, however, activists monitoring the facility saw federal agents loading people onto the GEO bus. Seventeen workers from the raids were detained and, as night fell, hurtled north toward the Northwest ICE Processing Center, in Tacoma, Washington, an ICE detention center owned by GEO Group.
According to emails obtained by local researchers at Information for Public Use and shared with The Intercept, local and state police were involved the raids at many levels: According to an internal sheriff’s office email ahead of the operation, seven of the locations raided had Jackson County sheriff’s deputies listed as the “primary” officials; a local police official was the “primary” at another site; a state trooper on a ninth site; and an official from the DEA on the 10th.
The raids were part of a nationwide investigation into hemp-derived products marketed as psychoactive. The raids in southern Oregon were rare, with federal enforcement agencies handling most investigations.
While local law enforcement said they had no role in the raids, emails suggest that officials at lower levels did participate. However, it remains unclear how many people were detained by ICE and sent to Washington. It was not until two months later that confirmation of the number of people bused across state lines to ICE’s detention facility came.
In Oregon, cannabis farms often operate outside established legal markets. The DEA has been ramping up its role in immigration enforcement since a memo was issued authorizing it to carry out functions of an immigration officer. Since then, collaboration between federal agencies and local law enforcement has increased.
The raids highlight concerns that the blurring of lines between drug and immigration enforcement is increasing, with ICE making arrests under pretext of other purposes. This would be twisting the intent of Oregon sanctuary laws to justify participating in immigration enforcement.
US Immigration Enforcement Blurs Lines, Raises Concerns Over Raids
Oregon’s sanctuary laws are a point of pride for the state, but it appears that federal authorities have managed to circumvent them. The raids near Medford were part of a DEA-led investigation into psychoactive products sold at smoke shops around the country. The involvement of local law enforcement in these raids raises concerns about how Oregon's sanctuary laws are being upheld.
The incident has also raised questions about how ICE is carrying out its activities, particularly with regards to the detention of workers from raided farms. In some cases, officials have admitted that they had no knowledge of ICE's involvement ahead of time, while others have denied any direct cooperation with the agency.
The incident highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the way that local law enforcement agencies are cooperating with federal authorities on immigration matters. It also raises concerns about the potential for abuse of power and the erosion of civil liberties.
In Oregon, cannabis farms often operate outside established legal markets. The DEA has been ramping up its role in immigration enforcement since a memo was issued authorizing it to carry out functions of an immigration officer. Since then, collaboration between federal agencies and local law enforcement has increased.
The raids were part of a nationwide investigation into hemp-derived products marketed as psychoactive. The involvement of local law enforcement in these raids raises concerns about how Oregon's sanctuary laws are being upheld.
The ICE Detention Bus Incident Raises Questions About Local Police Involvement in Raids
Local volunteers monitoring ICE activity noticed something new on July 30. Vehicles from the Federal Protective Service, a law enforcement agency that secures federal facilities, were parked outside. Behind the barbed-wire fence, a long, white bus with tinted windows idled behind the gates with the words “GEO Transport Inc.” emblazoned on its side.
If GEO Group, a major private prison and ICE contractor was there, then immigration agents must be too. Five miles away, federal, state, and local law enforcement, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, were raiding cannabis farms. She drove to one of the farms, owned by a company called HempNova Lifetech Corp.
Outside, Warner was immediately approached by a spokesperson from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, which is barred from participating in most federal immigration enforcement by Oregon sanctuary laws. “This is not an ICE raid. This is just a drug bust.” Warner recalled the officer saying. That explanation would be echoed by spokespeople for other law enforcement agencies.
By the end of the operation, however, activists monitoring the facility saw federal agents loading people onto the GEO bus. Seventeen workers from the raids were detained and, as night fell, hurtled north toward the Northwest ICE Processing Center, in Tacoma, Washington, an ICE detention center owned by GEO Group.
According to emails obtained by local researchers at Information for Public Use and shared with The Intercept, local and state police were involved the raids at many levels: According to an internal sheriff’s office email ahead of the operation, seven of the locations raided had Jackson County sheriff’s deputies listed as the “primary” officials; a local police official was the “primary” at another site; a state trooper on a ninth site; and an official from the DEA on the 10th.
The raids were part of a nationwide investigation into hemp-derived products marketed as psychoactive. The raids in southern Oregon were rare, with federal enforcement agencies handling most investigations.
While local law enforcement said they had no role in the raids, emails suggest that officials at lower levels did participate. However, it remains unclear how many people were detained by ICE and sent to Washington. It was not until two months later that confirmation of the number of people bused across state lines to ICE’s detention facility came.
In Oregon, cannabis farms often operate outside established legal markets. The DEA has been ramping up its role in immigration enforcement since a memo was issued authorizing it to carry out functions of an immigration officer. Since then, collaboration between federal agencies and local law enforcement has increased.
The raids highlight concerns that the blurring of lines between drug and immigration enforcement is increasing, with ICE making arrests under pretext of other purposes. This would be twisting the intent of Oregon sanctuary laws to justify participating in immigration enforcement.
US Immigration Enforcement Blurs Lines, Raises Concerns Over Raids
Oregon’s sanctuary laws are a point of pride for the state, but it appears that federal authorities have managed to circumvent them. The raids near Medford were part of a DEA-led investigation into psychoactive products sold at smoke shops around the country. The involvement of local law enforcement in these raids raises concerns about how Oregon's sanctuary laws are being upheld.
The incident has also raised questions about how ICE is carrying out its activities, particularly with regards to the detention of workers from raided farms. In some cases, officials have admitted that they had no knowledge of ICE's involvement ahead of time, while others have denied any direct cooperation with the agency.
The incident highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the way that local law enforcement agencies are cooperating with federal authorities on immigration matters. It also raises concerns about the potential for abuse of power and the erosion of civil liberties.
In Oregon, cannabis farms often operate outside established legal markets. The DEA has been ramping up its role in immigration enforcement since a memo was issued authorizing it to carry out functions of an immigration officer. Since then, collaboration between federal agencies and local law enforcement has increased.
The raids were part of a nationwide investigation into hemp-derived products marketed as psychoactive. The involvement of local law enforcement in these raids raises concerns about how Oregon's sanctuary laws are being upheld.
this is so worrying 
, if the DEA is working with ICE and local police to raid cannabis farms what does that mean for people living in Oregon who rely on the industry 
? it's like they're getting caught up in a big mess over 'psychoactive products' but who decides what's psychoactive anyway? 
I've got some tea for you! 
What's really going on here is that ICE is basically playing by its own rules, and it's not just the state of Oregon that's being screwed over. The fact that local police were involved in these raids, despite them saying they had no role to play, raises so many red flags. It's like they're trying to water down those sanctuary laws and use it as a excuse to get their hands dirty with immigration enforcement.
That thing is basically a mobile detention center, and it's being used to transport people who don't even know what they're doing to. It's like a wild goose chase, and nobody's really holding anyone accountable.
I'm getting a bad vibe from this whole thing. It sounds like the lines between drug enforcement and immigration are getting super blurred. Like, what's next? ICE agents showing up at your doorstep just because you're selling some herbal stuff online? 
And it's not just that - if local law enforcement is involved in these raids, it raises questions about how Oregon's sanctuary laws are actually being enforced. Are they being used as a pretext to bust people who are just trying to make a living? It feels like we're losing track of what's going on here... 
and it's not like ICE is keeping them in the dark about who they're transporting to detention centers 
. Local police were involved at multiple levels of these raids, which raises concerns that Oregon sanctuary laws are being undermined 
. It's like the whole thing is just one big grey area... how many people got hurt or detained in all this? 
I got a bad vibe from this whole thing...ICE and DEA teaming up with local cops to raid cannabis farms? 
. And can we talk about the lack of transparency and accountability in all this? It's wild that officials had no idea what was going down until weeks later 
. Anyway, I'm still rooting for Oregon sanctuary laws, but it's time to hold our authorities accountable for upholding them 