ICE detains Iranian man on his way to gym in Oregon

According to his attorney and court documents, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities stopped and arrested an Iranian resident of Yamhill County on Tuesday morning as he was traveling to the gym.

According to his attorney, Michael Purcell, he was detained in Portland for a short time before being sent to the regional detention facility in Tacoma.

In an effort to proactively fulfill President Trump’s directive to secure the homeland, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also reported that ICE had detained 11 Iranian nationals who were in the country illegally over the weekend.

Alabama, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, Colorado, Minnesota, California, and New York were the locations of the arrests.

The arrest in Oregon is the most recent instance of an individual being taken off the streets by ICE officers in the state. Additionally, Innovation Law attorneys said that ICE officers detained an Afghan man close to his residence on Tuesday after he returned from a hearing at Portland Immigration Court.

Six days ago, a Colombian immigrant was detained by masked federal officials while driving in downtown Portland following his appearance in Immigration Court. The arrest was captured on camera.

Purcell said the Iranian man, known only as S.F. in court documents, was supposed to be checked in at an ICE facility in Portland the following month.

According to Purcell, the man’s wife said that her husband was stopped by ICE officers at roughly 7 a.m. while he was traveling from his home to his gym.

Purcell hurried to contest the arrest and removal by filing a petition and temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court in Portland at 10:09 a.m., he said. After that, Purcell claimed, he went to see his client at the ICE office in Southwest Portland.

However, Purcell claimed that he arrived at 11:55 a.m., around twenty-five minutes too late.

He had transferred his client to Tacoma’s Northwest ICE Processing Center.

Purcell’s application for a temporary restraining order to prevent the government from transporting S.F. from Tacoma to another detention facility or abroad was heard by U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai via video on Tuesday afternoon.

Purcell claimed that the procedure infringes upon S.F.’s Fifth Amendment right to due process.

“It is against the law,” he stated. All around the nation, they are exploiting the system.

Before moving the individual out of Washington state, Kasubhai ordered federal officials to provide him with written notice 48 hours in advance, along with an explanation of why they believe removal is required.

If a petition is submitted in court prior to the ICE agent’s arrestee being transferred out of state, the U.S. District Court in Oregon retains habeas jurisdiction.

To disrupt their attorneys’ attempts to file such petitions in the necessary hurry, immigration lawyers believe ICE officials are beginning to arrest asylum seekers on the street rather than waiting for them to appear for their court date at Portland Immigration Court or for check-ins at an ICE office.

According to court documents, S.F. was subject to removal proceedings in the early 2000s and sought refuge as a remedy. He appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals after being granted asylum on August 14, 2002. According to his attorney, he was the target of a final order of removal after his appeal was denied on January 2, 2004.

According to Purcell, the government has not carried on that last removal order for the previous 20 years.

Purcell is now contesting his client’s abrupt detention, arguing that it establishes a de facto state of war between the United States and Iran due to the altered circumstances in Iran after the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities early on Sunday.

According to Purcell’s petition, an immigrant can often only request that the government review a final removal order within ninety days of the order. However, the government permits subsequent moves based on altered country conditions.

According to the petition, S.F.’s long-term residency in the United States, his American spouse and two children, as well as his conversion to Christianity, would significantly raise the likelihood that he would be imprisoned, tortured, or perhaps killed in Iran.

The 24-year-old Afghan man was arrested by ICE officers on Tuesday as he was heading back to his home in the Portland-Beaverton region following his scheduled immigration court appearance in Portland, according to his attorneys.

Targeted by the Taliban as a member of the nation’s Shia Muslim minority, he was only identified as E-M in court documents. His attorneys stated in a fresh plea that he escaped to the United States for safety, coming through California in 2023.

On May 29, 2024, he submitted an asylum application to Portland Immigration Court. According to two of his attorneys, Stephen Manning and Jordan Cunnings from Innovation Law Lab, he attended as scheduled for his immigration court hearing on Tuesday and complied with all court and legal deadlines. He was granted a continuance.

They contend that the U.S. government is punishing people for exercising their rights by using the immigration detention system, and that his arrest was unjustified.

Since ICE agents had transferred the Colombian man to the Tacoma detention center prior to the attorneys filing the petition in federal court in Oregon contesting his arrest, they agreed to have his petition challenging his detention transferred to the jurisdiction of the Western District of Washington following his arrest last week after he was pulled from his car on a street in downtown Portland.

— Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. You can contact her via mbernstein@oregonian.com, 503-221-8212, X@maxoregonian, or LinkedIn.

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