The City of Newport engaged in a legal battle against the construction of a new ICE detention facility at their municipal airport, according to a KOIN report. On Monday, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and the U.S. Coast Guard and their respective leaders. Alleging the federal government was acting in secret, Newport's Mayor Jan Kaplan, in a statement obtained by KOIN, emphasized the lack of public notice regarding the facility plans and the absence of an environmental and economic impact analysis on the city, renowned for its dependence on tourism.
Amid the potential ICE facility establishment, a federal judge has ordered the Coast Guard to keep its rescue helicopter at the Newport Municipal Airport, granting a preliminary injunction that prevents the relocation of the aircraft, reported OregonLive. Federal officials had diverted the Coast Guard crews from Oregon to the Southern Border amid an immigration crackdown. Not only did the city's lawsuit seek the halting of the detention center but it implicated concerns of a negative impact on Newport's tourist-driven economy, upon which the local community deeply relies.
In a separate complaint detailed by KGW, Newport alleges that the deed of the 3.5-acre Coast Guard property, given to the federal government in 1992, states it's for the primary use of a Coast Guard aviation facility. The city contends the Trump administration stopped using the space for its intended purpose and therefore, under the deed’s terms, the property should revert to the city by no later than May 2026.
Newport officials fear the transformation of the Coast Guard facility into an ICE 'black site' designed for rapid deportations and processing, referenced in a lawsuit by the statement that contractors reached out to local businesses for services accommodating over 200 people. Contractors have been contacting hotels and utility entities about providing services for an anticipated ICE facility, as reported by KGW. Newport's lawsuit stands as a plea to a federal judge to deem the decision to build the facility "arbitrary and capricious," ultimately seeking injunctive relief and the return of the AIRFAC Newport land.
Despite the escalating dispute over the proposed ICE facility, Mayor Kaplan has requested residents to remain respectful toward government employees in the region, as they carry out integral tasks in the community, particularly the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol that performs vital work at the Port of Newport, according to a KOIN interview.
