Three clergy arrested for blocking Portland ICE driveway

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Federal officers arrested three clergy members Tuesday for blocking a driveway during a protest at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southwest Portland.

The arrests came as a group of clergy and others marched from a nearby park to the building Tuesday morning and blocked a driveway.

The group sought a meeting with the regional ICE director and the release of more than 100 asylum-seekers who are being held at a federal prison in Sheridan.

ICE officials told KGW-TV that those arrested were charged with obstruction. KOIN-TV identified two of them as Rev. Michael Ellick and Rabbi Debra Kolodny and said the ACLU confirmed all three were clergy members.

The arrests come two weeks after a 38-day, round-the-clock protest came to an end outside the facility.

Ellick said the group wrote to ICE a week earlier, seeking the immediate release of 123 people detained at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution.