‘We cannot give Trump what he wants,’ Dunphy says, speaking onsite at ICE facility.
After federal troops took over Washington D.C., sales at restaurants and small businesses dropped 30%.
Portland is hanging on economically but it couldn’t bear a 30% reduction in sales right now, according to city councilor Jamie Dunphy, who represents east Portland, which he says is still reeling from the closure of the Gateway Fred Meyer.
Dunphy is one of three councilors representing District 1, consisting of Portland east of Interstate 205, Lents and neighborhoods near Portland International Airport.
The Portland city government’s new district-based representation system is a return to a much older, mayor-council approach to governance that separates executive and legislative functions. A former staffer of late Commissioner Nick Fish, Dunphy has now worked in both systems.
Oregon Business interviewed Dunphy on Tuesday morning outside the Portland ICE facility on South Macadam Drive. The facility has been the site of ongoing protests throughout the summer. Those demonstrations have grown in size in recent days, following President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that he intends to send “all necessary troops” to protect the site.
As Dunphy discussed working in the new form of city government and not giving Trump “what he wants,” passing drivers honked in apparent support of protesters and a smaller number shouted abuse. One in a lifted truck rolled coal.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are you doing here today?
I came to see exactly what Portlanders are doing — which is exercising their right to peacefully protest, to lead with our community values, and to show up. And that’s really what Portland is known for.
Have you heard what day the troops will arrive?
No, it’s unclear at this point. We are waiting for our hearing on Friday in federal court in front of Judge Simon.
There’s a lot of uncertainty right now. What are you hearing at City Hall as far as communication with the White House?
The communication with the White House has been disappointing. But we are hearing that the President has been operating off of bad information; he’s even talked about it in public, saying “I’m being shown the wrong videos.” And that’s very clear based on what I’m seeing here today, and what I’ve been seeing on social media and throughout the real news.
The city, the county, the state — all the local elected leaders, local business, local nonprofits — all are speaking with one voice that this is not needed. Portland is not a “war zone.” We do not need federal troops in this city.
It sounds like you support the protesters here.
Yeah, I do.
So with ICE detaining people around town, and detaining some of the people who come to their appointments at this facility, is there anything the city council can do to address this?
There’s not a lot we can do, but we can continue to monitor it. We can show up where we can. We can try to keep Portlanders safe as they’re using their voices in protest, and make sure Portland police officers are protecting the rights of Portlanders, not enforcing immigration and not assisting the feds in this illegal occupation.
What are your constituents telling you?
They’re really concerned. I represent District 1 on the east side. We are home to 50% of the city’s people of color. We are home to 40% of the children. It hits differently on our side of town. These are actual families being torn apart. These are students in my daughter’s classes not seeing their parents when they get home. This is real, and this is deeply affecting. And (constituents) want us to do whatever we can, peacefully and within the legal rights we have. But our tools are pretty limited.
I can envision a scenario where some members of the protest community give Trump what he seems to want. Are you worried about that?
Absolutely. I think we are at risk of giving Trump the kind of made-for-TV moment that he wants, but I know that Portlanders will stand up and not allow that kind of nonsense to happen.
I think they’re trying to demonstrate evidence so they can have a bigger presence in Portland. And I firmly believe they’d also use it to justify other actions in other cities.
We have a new form of city government. You’ve worked under both. Are councilors hamstrung at all by the new system?
I think in some ways it is clearer that we have an actual executive. We have a mayor; we have a city administrator. It’s their responsibility to execute on the laws and policies that are on the books. And the city council is responsible for bringing the voices of the community to those leadership command structures.
So we have a seat at the table with the mayor. Vice President (Tiffany) Koyama Lane is in every high-level conversation that’s happening and is acting as our liaison. We have opportunities throughout the day to make sure we are communicating directly with the chief of police, to the Bureau of Emergency Management, to the city administrator, to the mayor. We’re making sure that we’re bringing not only the frustrations and feelings of our neighbors but also the real-time actions of the federal government and where they’re reported across the community.
So what are you doing about it?
Working very closely with the mayor, with the governor’s office, with the entire city council, to make sure that we’re aligned in terms of what resources we have and what resources are available to the community. We’re streamlining our communication systems so we can hear directly from the people on the ground about what’s happening. And we’re just trying to keep people safe, because we cannot give Trump what he wants.
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