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Rumors of detentions of people by immigration officials at the Multnomah County Courthouse building have swirled this week. (Oregonian file)

Unconfirmed reports of an immigration crackdown at Oregon's busiest courthouse prompted condemnation from defense attorneys and a joint statement Saturday from Portland leaders expressing "grave concern" about the resulting fear.

It appears details of recent arrests - or attempts to arrest -- immigrants at the Multnomah County Courthouse in downtown prompted rumors that agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were targeting Latinos and sweeping up undocumented workers outside courtrooms.

One lawyer contacted by The Oregonian/OregonLive, John Schlosser, said he has seen immigration agents detain two of his clients in the last month. On Friday, they tried to detain a third, he said.

Several public defenders also reported that colleagues have told them that immigration agents have come into the courthouse in plainclothes, waited outside courtrooms and taken people away.

An ICE spokeswoman in the Seattle field office, Rose Richeson, said she knew of no increased deportation effort here. A call to the ICE office in Portland went unanswered on Saturday.

But even the rumors were enough to draw quick censure from top officials - from the sheriff to the county chairwoman -- who released a joint statement, saying: "We can't have people afraid to access justice in Multnomah County."

"Anything that increases the fear of people accessing our courts is of grave concern," they said. "Courthouses need to be safe locations for people to access justice: whether to contest an eviction, seek a restraining order from abuse, or attend a custody hearing. Now, they may be too afraid to show up.

"This is devastating for the people accessing our services, and in many cases, counterproductive to a lawful community. We encourage ICE to recognize courthouses as sensitive locations and consider these impacts."

Worries about federal deportation sweeps heightened as President Donald Trump signed orders to kick-start construction of his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and cut federal grants to immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities." He also suspended entry of all refugees to the U.S. for four months.

County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson emphasized in an interview that she wanted address the rumors when she heard about them from two trusted sources Friday, though she emphasized that her information was hearsay.

"We really need to figure out what is happening and what our right response is and make sure the public knows we're aware of it," she said.

Mat dos Santos, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon, said multiple public defenders and staff at the courthouse have contacted him to report ICE agents arresting undocumented immigrants, though he hasn't seen it happening himself.

The lawyers describe agents coming into the courthouse, interviewing people, waiting for them outside courtrooms and taking them into custody, dos Santos said. Five agents were present at the courthouse Friday, he said. He didn't know how many people had been arrested, he said.

The reports have come in sporadically in the last three weeks but picked up over the last few days, he said. The lawyers told him that the agents appear to be targeting people who look Latino, he said.

Schlosser, a criminal defense attorney with the Portland Defense Consortium, said most of his clients aren't citizens. He has had immigration authorities detain his clients on and off throughout the years, he said, but he has seen an apparent increase in the past month. Until recently, he's never seen immigration agents come into the courthouse to detain someone, he said.

Typically, immigration authorities will detain undocumented people that they consider priorities - usually those who face felonies, multiple misdemeanors or drunken driving charges, or if they have been deported before, Schlosser said. Usually, though, the agents will detain people outside the courthouse, he said.

Portland immigration officials told Schlosser that, despite Trump's executive order on immigration, their policies haven't changed, he said. Officials told him that the people they arrested at the Multnomah County Courthouse were specifically sought by agents because they were considered priorities.

"I think the people they are targeting has not changed," Schlosser said. "It's just that they're picking them up inside the courthouse instead of outside."

Nonetheless, the arrests at the courthouse have led to confusion for lawyers, their clients and court staff. Until Schloffer spoke to ICE officials, he said he didn't know exactly what agents were doing.

Nan Waller, Multnomah County Circuit Court presiding judge, said she's received complaints from lawyers who said ICE agents arrested their clients, but she had no details about the circumstances. She contacted the immigration agency, she said, but couldn't get clarity on what may be happening.

The county statement - signed by Waller, Sheriff Mike Reese and all five county commissioners - noted that the Sheriff's Office doesn't allow ICE officers to have access to nonpublic areas of the courthouse and doesn't hold people on ICE detainers in county jails or do any immigration enforcement actions.

Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill said that his office doesn't give immigration officials information on people.

"The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office does not notify or alert immigration officials or agencies regarding individuals (witnesses, victims, or defendants) with whom we come into contact. This applies to the adult and juvenile justice systems, as well as our work seeking to enforce child support obligations," he said in a statement.

The county leaders' statement is the latest show of defiance by public officials against Trump's immigration-related pronouncements.

This week, Portland and Multnomah County leaders, including Mayor Ted Wheeler and County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury, said they're committed to remaining sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants.

Because of a source's error, a previous version of this report incorrectly said that five people were arrested on Friday.

-- Samantha Matsumoto

503-294-4001

@SMatsumoto55

--Allan Brettman

503-294-5900

@allanbrettman