Bynum calls for ICE to pause enforcement in Bend, Deschutes County in wake of school shooting

The Oregon congresswoman who represents Bend is calling on federal officials to stop non-emergency immigration enforcement in the Central Oregon city in the wake of last week’s elementary school shooting. 

In a letter to acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director David Venturella, Democratic U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum wrote that Deschutes County families have been afraid to seek mental health care, gather with their neighbors, speak to law enforcement and send their children back to school because of ICE’s presence in the city. 

All Bend-La Pine Schools reopened Wednesday except for Silver Rail Elementary, where a 16-year-old former student last Thursday shot and killed three students and a teacher and injured another student and teacher. Another teacher tackled the shooter before a father who followed him into the school shot and killed him, according to police. 

“Silver Rail’s students come from every background, and my office is hearing that immigrant families are staying away from the mental health and community services set up for them,” Bynum wrote. “Parents fear that a trip to a school, a clinic, a church or a vigil could end in detention or deportation. We’ve even heard of parents unwilling to pick up their kids’ belongings from the Silver Rail investigation because of that fear.”

Spokespeople for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about a reported surge in Deschutes County. Local immigrant rights organizations reported a spike in immigration arrests in Oregon earlier this month, after the Trump administration announced it would increase enforcement in sanctuary cities, or jurisdictions that limit local cooperation on immigration enforcement. 

In Oregon, the nation’s first sanctuary state, a decades-old law that voters overwhelmingly reaffirmed in 2018 bars any state or local government resources from being used to enforce federal immigration law without a warrant signed by a judge. Supporters of such laws say they make communities safer by empowering immigrants to report crimes and participate in police investigations without fear of deportation. 

ICE agents were in Bend last Thursday to return to state custody a truck driver who faces manslaughter charges for a car crash that killed two newlyweds last November. The agency arrested Rajinder Kumar and removed him from the state this spring after he was released on bail, leading to uncertainty over whether he would face justice in state court. 

Local activists also shared pictures of marked agency vehicles and reports of ICE arrests in Central Oregon over the past week.

In her letter, Bynum requested that Venturella pause all non-emergency immigration enforcement in Deschutes County, refrain from enforcement actions at schools, hospitals, counseling centers, places of worship, memorial sites or vigils and notify her office in advance of any enforcement that couldn’t be deferred.

“Pausing enforcement is not a political concession,” she wrote. “It is basic decency and professionalism. Federal agencies routinely adjust operations in the wake of natural disasters and other emergencies so that people can seek shelter and aid without fear. The aftermath of a school shooting calls for the same judgment.”