A Time for Solidarity
Last Wednesday, hundreds of people packed a City Council meeting in Newport to express their opposition to a detention facility that ICE is planning to construct at the current site of the Newport Airport. The crowd could not be contained in City Hall but spilled out into the adjacent rec center, filling three meeting rooms to overflowing. Local residents addressed the Council, making statements that were both practical and passionate. Some described the negative impact the ICE facility would have on Newport’s economy, driving away workers that local businesses depend on. Others said that the millions of dollars to be spent on the detention center could be better invested in healthcare, housing, education, infrastructure and other pressing needs in Lincoln County. Parents pleaded that the fear the ICE facility would instill in their children would keep them away from school. One young lady tearfully described the detention of her father by ICE and the family’s inability to learn about his status or future. Moreover, members of the fishing industry and public safety professionals were adamant that the transfer of a rescue helicopter based at Newport Airport to Coos Bay (a consequence of building a new ICE facility in Newport) would cost lives on the Central coast that need not be lost. What united many of the speakers, and what people at all points on the political spectrum can agree with, is that the tactics ICE is employing both nationally and in Oregon are unacceptable. The indiscriminate seizing of people off the street by masked, uniformed agents without warrants or probable cause and their subsequent detention and/or deportation without due process are clear violations of the Constitution. The focus, not on known criminals, but on people with jobs and families, is misguided, destructive and divisive. This is stark government overreach. It is not liberal, it is not conservative, and it is not American. In the coming weeks, leadership of the Lincoln County Democratic Party will reach out across our communities in an effort to establish a broad coalition in opposition to the proposed ICE detention center. We want to work across partisan lines. We want to stand shoulder to shoulder in every sphere of public activity, from schools to churches, business and industry, libraries, food pantries, legal aid providers and communicators in every medium, at every level. We will work with anyone, regardless of their political affiliation. Our community is facing a threat to its economy, its social structure and its values that must be met. It’s a time for all of us to come together to defend what makes us who and what we are. In the coming weeks, leadership of the Lincoln County Democratic Party will reach out across our communities in an effort to establish a broad coalition in opposition to the proposed ICE detention center. We want to work across partisan lines. We want to stand shoulder to shoulder in every sphere of public activity, from schools to churches, business and industry, libraries, food pantries, legal aid providers and communicators in every medium, at every level. We will work with anyone, regardless of their political affiliation. Our community is facing a threat to its economy, its social structure and its values that must be met. It’s a time for all of us to come together to defend what makes us who and what we are. We have both the moral imperative and the opportunity to band together in solidarity on this issue. We hope you will join us. Mary Infante, Chair, Lincoln County Democratic Party Published in the Lincoln County Leader, Nov 22, 2025