In December, a father was detained by Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while he dropped off his kids at Roosevelt High School in North Portland. Pulled out of his car and detained by ICE in front of his children and community members near the school, he is just one of many people in Portland — and across the country — detained by ICE without clear cause. These detentions, the process of which often denies detainees an attorney, can cause immigrant families to fear what could happen to them if they were to go out for daily tasks like the grocery store, school, or work.
ICE, a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was created in 2003 for
“administering immigration laws,” according to ICE. Since then, ICE has detained people who they say are undocumented immigrants, often without confirming their immigration or legal status. They have been taking people from their families, communities, and their lives, in many instances leaving people unaware of where their loved ones are being taken.
As people have been struggling with the fear of leaving their homes, they are also in fear of what could happen to friends and family if they are detained by ICE. For this reason, the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC), an immigrant rights organization, has a hotline primarily run by volunteers to receive, document, and warn the public to stay away from areas with suspected ICE sightings. Not only is the hotline helpful for reporting ICE sightings, but it is often the start of the support immigrants and their families can receive after someone is detained.
Brenda Alvarado, one of four PIRC coordinators who work at the Immigrant Resource Center, shares some insight into what happens when someone calls the hotline. When a community member calls the hotline to report ICE activity, dispatchers receive the call, and then PIRC sends trained personnel to the area to determine if ICE is present. “Our dispatchers have to go through a series of questions trying to investigate and use a series of handful of resources to try to confirm [ICE’s presence],” Alvarado says.
If ICE’s presence is confirmed, PIRC sends out warnings on its website, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms. Their warnings include the location, date, and time of reported ICE sightings, as well as how officers were dressed and the vehicle they used.
It has been difficult for people to identify ICE because they have started to wear plain clothing without badges or other features that indicate they are ICE. Alvarado explains, “ICE is dressing up in plain clothing, which makes it really scary for folks who are being held at gunpoint or being detained by them.” Another PIRC coordinator, Alyssa Walker Keller, points out that it is important for PIRC to investigate whether ICE was actually present. “If it is a rumor, it’s important to keep that from spreading,” she says. Confirming ICE’s presence enables PIRC to protect a specific area and to be aware if more ICE agents come to that area. “We track the data and trends we learn about so we can alert the community,” she adds, “that way people can make informed choices to keep themselves and their families safe.”
Documenting where ICE has been keeps families informed and lets them know that PIRC is there to support them. “When the worst happens, having caring people who will pick up the phone and help you walk through the next steps makes people whose loved one was taken away feel held and supported,” says Walker Keller. By providing this hotline, PIRC aims to give hope to people whose loved ones have been detained. The hotline is heavily relied on because people feel helpless, and the local circumstances regarding immigration enforcement continue to change.
Alvarado explains the importance of having the hotline, describing it as “the whistleblower of ICE activity in the state.” The hotline is the first of many resources that immigrant families can receive from the PIRC organization, which connects community members to accompaniment with others, mutual aid, and legal services. This is a great way for families to feel safe and heard. PIRC also has an Immigrant Resource Center that is open to walk-ins from Monday to Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 12 p.m, at 4122 S. Moody Ave.
The hotline has recently been of significant importance in the Portland community, as an extreme increase in detentions is occurring in the U.S.. “I have never seen the amount of fear that’s in the community right now,” Alvarado shares. She says that there is “fear of going to the grocery store, fear of going to school.” Walker Keller says that the PIRC hotline used to receive around 50 calls per month, a number which heightened to 5000 calls in November of 2025. PIRC attributes this increase to ICE’s increased budget by President Donald Trump, who has encouraged detentions of immigrants throughout the country. According to Amnesty International USA, “Trump’s budget powers the largest expansion of immigration enforcement we’ve ever seen.” The PIRC hotline is witnessing the impacts through the increased amount of reports of ICE sightings and arrests.
Walker Keller emphasizes the vital work the hotline volunteers are doing for the immigrant community. “It is a high–trust, high–stress role, and we literally could not do our work without these incredible volunteers who are willing to answer the many calls,” she says. The volunteers who answer the hotline deal with a lot of emotional pain and sadness from families. She mentions, “The last three months have been really hard for them, because some days they have talked to over 30 people whose loved ones were taken away in one day, and that causes a lot of heartbreak and trauma.” In order for PIRC to maintain the hotline, volunteers must face a lot of challenges, but continue to overcome them for the community.
Communities must organize to keep each other safe. PIRC, along with other immigration organizations, offers Migra Watch Trainings where the public can learn more about reporting sightings of ICE. Alvarado says, “ICE wants to operate in the darkness and our mission is to make sure that … they don’t take any of our neighbors quietly.” She mentions that some of the best ways to discourage ICE from being in an area are simply having a presence when they are trying to detain someone, or recording what happens.
In case of any encounter with ICE, Walker Keller states the importance of knowing your rights: every person has the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the right against unlawful search or seizure. In the Franklin community, we can be on the lookout for ICE and support our friends who are currently struggling. Walker Keller emphasizes, “ICE wants us to feel afraid, but we are so strong when we stand together and look out for each other. We can keep each other safe, and you are not alone.”
