Federal officials are reportedly investigating whether U.S. immigration agents illegally detained a Hispanic man in Oregon, where congressional Democrats are demanding answers in a dispute over President Donald Trump's immigration policies in the nation's leading sanctuary state.
Oregon's U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, are calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to explain why its agents took Carlos Bolanos into custody only to release him several hours later, Oregon's KATU television news reported.
Bolanos was renovating a house along with his co-worker, George Cardenas, who recorded the arrest on a cell phone.
"I felt like I had to record it. I had to record every single second of this because I knew these people they get these power trips and they think they can do whatever they want," Cardenas told the news station.
Trump's policy of enforcing immigration law has been running into resistance especially in states such as Oregon, as The Dailer Caller reported. In 1987, Oregon's state legislature prevented police from cooperating with federal immigration agents.
Merkley and Wyden want a copy of an internal investigation that ICE has promised to conduct, an explanation of the policies that led to Bolanos' arrest, and assurance the agency is taking any actions to prevent future mistaken detentions.
The agency explained the "alien at issue" was released after his detention last week and ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are conducting an "investigation regarding the circumstances of his arrest."
Bolanos' detention comes a month after ICE agents mistakenly arrested an American citizen, Isidro Andrade-Tafolla, near Portland.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.