Oregon’s leadership has officially gone off the rails. Governor Tina Kotek and Attorney General Dan Rayfield are now threatening to arrest federal agents for doing the exact jobs the federal government is constitutionally required to do, namely enforcing immigration law and responding to Portland’s never-ending cycle of street chaos. This isn’t policy disagreement anymore. This is a state announcing it’s ready to pick a constitutional fistfight because it doesn’t like that the grown-ups showed up.
Kotek posted a video on Instagram accusing DHS of “violent actions” and “stoking fear,” which is a peculiar way to describe officers trying to arrest people who are here illegally or attacking federal property. She went on about Oregon being a welcoming place where immigrant and refugee communities thrive, which is fine, but thriving requires laws and order, two things Portland hasn’t exactly been famous for recently. Then she dropped the real threat. Oregon will investigate federal agents, and if they “break Oregon law,” she says they’ll be prosecuted like anyone else. Never mind that the Supremacy Clause exists, or that immigration enforcement is federal jurisdiction, or that her office has spent years excusing the rioters who torch buildings in downtown Portland.
This escalation comes right after Rayfield and three county DAs sent a letter to AG Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, essentially putting DHS on probation. They accused federal officers of using excessive force, demanded they halt “unlawful actions,” and insisted on new training, cooperation with local police, investigations of complaints, and full compliance with state probes. It’s the classic Oregon formula. Coddle the agitators, handcuff the officers, then point fingers when everything collapses.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wasn’t having it. She responded by reminding everyone that assaults on ICE officers in Oregon are up an absurd 1,150 percent. Not protests. Assaults. Molotov cocktails, firearms and ambushes. Instead of confronting that reality, Oregon’s leadership decided the real threat is the agents being attacked. It’s backwards to the point of parody.
The DOJ has already said these attempts to criminalize federal law enforcement are illegal and futile under the Supremacy Clause. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged over forty individuals with federal crimes near the ICE facility since last year, including arsonists and people assaulting officers. That’s what actual law enforcement looks like.
If Kotek and Rayfield follow through on arresting federal agents, they won’t just be picking a fight they can’t win. They’ll be dragging their state into a constitutional crisis because they refuse to admit their sanctuary experiment has failed spectacularly.
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