A federal immigration official has confirmed that the Trump administration eyed a Newport air facility for a temporary detention center and had started an environmental analysis before scrapping the idea when relocation of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to make way for the project raised a public furor.
But Ralph Ferguson, acting assistant director for operations support at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, didn’t rule out the possibility of reviving the plan.
In a statement filed to U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Ferguson outlined the agency’s current position:
“ICE is not presently building a temporary holding/processing facility in or around Newport Municipal Airport,” he said. “In addition, ICE has no plan or intention to begin construction or open an ICE facility in the City of Newport or at Newport Municipal Airport between now and until May 1, 2026.”
Aiken in late November granted a temporary restraining order barring removal or reduction of the rescue helicopter’s presence in the coastal city before the Dungeness crab fishing season got underway in mid-December. Aiken ordered the federal government to restore the Coast Guard rescue helicopter to Newport.
The judge ruled after Newport Fishermen’s Wives, a nonprofit that supports commercial fishermen, and Lincoln County filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard upon learning the Coast Guard had either ceased or drastically reduced its operations in Newport and moved its rescue helicopter about 70 miles south to North Bend.
The move would drastically increase the response times from between 15 and 30 minutes to between 60 and 90 minutes in the case of a crisis, Aiken wrote. Between 2000 and 2019, 44 commercial fishermen perished in the waters off Oregon, including 12 off Newport, according to court records.
The county and nonprofit argued that Oregon coastal waters average 50 to 54 degrees year-round and anyone who falls off a vessel is in immediate life-threatening danger.
On Dec. 22, Aiken extended her order by granting a preliminary injunction for the duration of the pending lawsuit.
During a status hearing on the case with lawyers from all sides Wednesday, Aiken said the court may decide to handle a subsequent suit filed by the state of Oregon separately from the one filed by the nonprofit and Lincoln County.
The suit filed by the state on Nov. 24 challenges the construction of an ICE facility anywhere in Newport, while the initial suit by the nonprofit focuses on preventing the removal of the helicopter from the Coast Guard air station at the Newport Air Facility.
Oregon Senior Assistant Attorney General Brian S. Marshall told the judge that he’s concerned about the ICE official’s sworn statement filed a day before the status hearing because Ferguson’s “words are parsed very carefully,” leaving it unclear if the immigration agency has simply shifted its plan for a detention center to a different location in the city or county.
Attorneys for the city of Newport said it’s particularly concerning because instances abound of Trump officials saying one thing and doing another. The city of Newport has friend-of-the-court status in the state’s lawsuit.
Marshall said the ICE official, for example, declined to sign a statement that said ICE wouldn’t construct a detention center “in or around Newport.”
Despite what Ferguson told the judge, lawyers for the nonprofit, the county, city and state urged Aiken to expedite their cases.
Aiken urged all parties involved in the litigation to be open and transparent.
“Let’s not game this case,” she said.
Lincoln County, in a statement Wednesday, said it will “steadfastly pursue” its litigation to ensure the Coast Guard helicopter doesn’t leave Newport.
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