By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
NEWPORT – A sea of more than 820 people packed Newport city hall, spilled over hallways and watched TV monitors from the recreation center, as Abril Aldama walked alone to the podium to tell everyone about the day her father was taken away.
“My dad was picked up on Sept. 17,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on because I was at school.”
Four vehicles and six agents – four who wore masks covering their faces – detained Aldama’s father on Elizabeth Street in Newport and drove him five hours to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
At first, Abril and her family members didn’t know where he was.
“My dad has always tried to be tough in front of me and my siblings, as we are still young and we’re still under age …” she told the Newport city council during a special meeting Wednesday night to hear testimony about a potential immigration detention center at the city’s airport. “When I was younger, I would always see him cry and I didn’t understand until now.”
Abril knows her father is suffering from anxiety and depression. Her mother has been through so much, Abril said, and she herself is just a teenager with a lot of big emotions.
“I’m here to represent my family,” she said, through tears. “No one deserves to go through what my family and I are going through right now.”
Last week, a Texas-based company with a history of housing National Guard troops near the U.S.-Mexico border, sent a letter to the city of Newport asking to lease 4.3 acres adjacent to the U.S. Coast Guard facility at the airport. The letter had vague details of a “federal project.” Then a septic company got an inquiry asking for an estimate of for a federal project’s holding tank that would support sewage from 500 to 1,000 people.
The city announced Wednesday night that the company’s letter of intent has been withdrawn. But there is still uncertainty around a potential detention center.
The company may have withdrawn its intent to lease land from the city, Mayor Jan Kaplan told the Lincoln Chronicle, but the federal government still owns the Coast Guard property.
The Coast Guard helicopter stationed at the airport was also quietly relocated 90 miles south to North Bend on Oct. 31 with no confirmation if the move is permanent or temporary.
And, two national companies have posted hiring advertisements looking for a medical team and detention officers to “provide care, custody, and control of those in ICE custody” and listing a Newport location.
Community speaks
Community members packed city hall chambers, the hallways, front steps and the adjacent recreation center for a special city council meeting Wednesday night as dozens upon dozens of people spoke against the potential of an ICE facility.
More than 50 people spoke – all in opposition to such a project.
If a detention center came to Newport, families would be faced with two options – to not go to work, not send their children to school, forgo doctor visits and going to the grocery store or leaving Lincoln County, said Sara Yaeggy, a member of Conexion Fenix, an organization that began as a way to help Latino families get resources after the 2020 wildfire in Otis.
“If there’s one big takeaway it should be that affecting one person or one family has a ripple effect on the families and all of the community around them,” Yaeggy said.
“We are here to raise our voices, to speak for those of us that are too afraid to be in this space, and to express our opposition to the federal government’s idea of building or installing a detention center here in Newport,” she said.
Eva Gonzalez, president of Centro de Ayuda, said their nonprofit organization has resources available for community members, including a food pantry. Since there has been increased fear around immigration enforcement, the organization has had more door-to-door deliveries for people afraid to leave their homes, an organization member told the Chronicle.
“It is important for me to say this because many people in our community are scared, and many people in this room have never been inside an ICE detention center, but I have, I have been inside more than 10 such detention facilities,” said Kate Sinkins of Lincoln City, the only immigration attorney on the coast.
She talked about the conditions of ICE facilities she has seen. Showers are not offered on a daily basis and access to attorneys is limited based on the mood of the officer in charge, she said.
Helicopter worries
Others testifying Wednesday night expressed concern over the missing rescue helicopter and how that would affect the safety of the fishing community. The indefinite removal comes just before the dangerous crabbing season in Newport, which boasts being the Dungeness crab capital of the world and is home to Oregon’s largest commercial fishing fleet.
Fisherman’s Wives representative Taunette Dixon is the person who makes the calls when there is a tragedy. Not having the Coast Guard helicopter in Newport will directly impact safety, she said.
The rescue helicopter has been in Newport since 1987. In 2013, the Coast Guard said it would shutter the facility and instead operate out of North Bend and Astoria. Fisherman’s Wives sued and Congress passed legislation that kept the Newport location running.
Dixon helped fight to keep the helicopter then and said Wednesday night she isn’t stopping now.
“This is life and death, and we’re going to be here fighting for our community,” Dixon said.
Some state and local leaders were also in attendance.
Rep. David Gomberg D-Otis, said the mounting evidence of a detention center and the absence of the rescue helicopter seemed to signify misplaced priorities.
“What that means is that someone, somewhere, believes that detaining lives is more important than saving lives here,” Gomberg said.
After two hours of public comments, city councilors unanimously voiced their opposition to a potential ICE facility.
“We are going to do everything we can do to fight this,” said Kaplan.
City Councilor Steven Hickman wondered why Newport had been chosen and surmised that the federal government probably saw the city as small, rural and quiet.
“We’ve absolutely been underestimated and that can be felt in this room, on Zoom and by all the emails we received,” Hickman said.
At the meeting’s end, Siletz Tribal councilors Selene Rilatos and Judy Muschamp led a prayer.
“I hope that young girl is here,” Rilatos said as she stood looking over the sea of people for Abril Aldama.
Abril broke through the crowd and joined the women, who took her hands to form a circle. The audience was silent as they sang a Siletz spirit song. Their voices carried over the room as councilors, audience members and strangers stood together, hands clasped.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
