ACLU files complaint with DHS over ICE tire slashing in Hillsboro

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Oregon filed an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, demanding an investigation into an October 7 incident in Hillsboro, Oregon. The complaint seeks discipline for two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who slashed the rear tire of a car occupied by two legal observers.

Video footage recorded inside the observers' vehicle shows an unmarked vehicle with flashing emergency lights following closely behind their car. Approximately 15 seconds into the clip, both vehicles come to a stop. Two masked individuals wearing vests labeled U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement exit the unmarked car and approach the observers' vehicle. One agent carries a sharp object and uses it to puncture the back tire. The agents return a few seconds later to slash the tire a second time.

The observers, identified in the filing as AP and MP, were monitoring ICE activity in the parking lot of a Safeway store in Hillsboro. They used whistles and car horns to alert bystanders to the presence of federal agents before the unmarked vehicle began following them. The observers noted that filming federal officers is protected under the First Amendment, a position confirmed by top DHS officials under oath in February.

The February confirmation followed the deaths of two legal observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis. Since then, numerous videos have shown federal agents threatening individuals who record immigration enforcement operations. In one instance, an officer in Maine told a woman her name would be added to a database and she would be considered a domestic terrorist if she continued recording.

The Hillsboro observers stated in the complaint that their experience is not unique and that the pattern of behavior is terrifying. They explained that they observe and record public ICE activity to create a record of government actions. They described the agents as terrorizing them and others who exercise their constitutional right to hold the government accountable. The observers expressed hope that sharing their story would draw attention to what they characterized as reckless and unconstitutional attacks on their communities.

The complaint requests that DHS conduct a comprehensive investigation into the October 7 incident and into a pervasive pattern of ICE agents retaliating against individuals who observe or record their duties. The attorneys urge DHS to recommend institutional changes to ICE training, oversight, and accountability to prevent future abuses. They specifically call for ICE to adopt policies and implement training consistent with the First Amendment right to record law enforcement officers performing their duties in public.

The ACLU has represented several observers who have been surveilled and intimidated by federal agents for filming enforcement operations. In Memphis, Tennessee, the group has represented observers recording the Memphis Safe Task Force. This task force includes more than 30 federal, state, and local agents who have conducted mass traffic stops and entered homes for over a year. The ACLU states that task force agents have retaliated against those who record them by threatening arrest, questioning them without reasonable suspicion, and using excessive force.

The Hillsboro incident occurred while DHS threatened to target sanctuary cities like Portland, where local police are restricted from participating in immigration enforcement. Kelly Simon, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon, said masked federal officers have no business coming to Oregon to injure or intimidate people. She stated that Oregonians have the right to support their neighbors by filming government abuses and should not fear retaliation when exercising their right to record law enforcement.

Scarlet Kim, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, described the right to record publicly visible law enforcement activity as fundamental to democracy. She noted that many people across the country have been observing and recording ICE activity in their communities. Kim said these videos have proven critical to exposing ICE abuses. She argued that if the public cannot see and document what the government is doing on its streets, it cannot hold the government accountable for violating rights.