Special Report from the Frontlines of #OccupyICEPDX

FEATURING ARUN GUPTA – As the scandal over family separation and detention continues across the United States, activists in cities around the nation are engaging in innovative and militant protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The city of Portland, Oregon took the lead in starting an occupation outside an ICE prison that began on Father’s Day and continues today. Dozens of people have set up tents and are at the location 24 hours a day and are promoting their efforts online under the hashtag #OccupyICEPDX.

Last week the occupation resulted in the shutting down of the prison with ICE employees leaving indefinitely. This week federal agents have reportedly entered the building with some ICE staff to “secure government property.”

Similar encampments have sprung up in New York City, Detroit, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Our news correspondent Arun Gupta has been at the Portland occupation, reporting for Raw Story and now joins us from the encampment.

For more information follow on twitter #OccupyICEPDX, and read Arun Gupta’s article in Raw Story ‘Cops plead ‘allow ICE employees to go home to their families’ after protesters blockade prison in Portland,’ HERE.

Arun Gupta, a regular news correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. He’s an investigative journalist who has written for dozens of publications including the Washington Post, the Guardian, The Nation, Salon, and Raw Story. He is also author of the forthcoming book, “Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction.”