‘On an overstay’: US citizen wrongly detained at Portland ICE facility for hours before release, lawyer says

Frank Miranda, a California-born US citizen, was detained early on October 2 outside his workplace in Portland, Oregon, by several plainclothes and masked immigration officers who accused him of overstaying his visa. According to his lawyer, Michael Fuller, Miranda was held for several hours at Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement building before being released.

In a video taken by Miranda during the encounter, he can be heard asking, “What do you mean, overstay? I don’t know what that is.” Miranda told the officers that he was born in California.

When he objected to being detained and insisted he had done nothing wrong, one of the officers replied, “We’re gonna put you in cuffs or you’re gonna get the dog.” Miranda was then struck from behind, handcuffed, and placed in an unmarked vehicle that took him to Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Fuller said his client was held there for several hours before being driven back to his workplace.

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ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The incident was first reported by local news outlet Willamette Week.

Attorney and lawmaker demand explanation

Fuller stated that this was the first case he was aware of in Oregon where a US citizen had been detained under the pretext of being in the country illegally, though similar cases have occurred in Alabama, Florida, and Southern California.

He added that he has a copy of Miranda’s California birth certificate and has sent a tort claim notice to the Department of Homeland Security, along with a letter to its leader, Kristi Noem, seeking documentation and details that led to the detention. DHS oversees ICE.

“I hope that ICE and the senior officials will just provide us the documentation,” Fuller said. “If it truly was an honest mistake that couldn’t have been avoided, then we won’t go to court. Right now, we’ve just been given no answers. And so that’s all we’re asking for at this point—it’s just answers.”

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Democratic Representative Janelle Bynum expressed anger over the incident, calling it unacceptable. “Masked federal agents aren’t welcome in our state and they can’t keep kidnapping Americans,” she said.

Aggressive immigration enforcement has been a key part of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

(With agency inputs)