ACLU: No attorneys can get in Sheridan prison

(Update: ACLU says attorneys not allowed to meet with Sheridan asylum seekers)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Immigration rights attorneys say they have not been allowed to meet with asylum seekers being held in a federal prison in Sheridan.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Innovation Law Lab said during a Tuesday telephone briefing with reporters that they are trying to assist the men, including at least six who have been separated from their children after illegal border crossings.

The men have been held in the facility about 60 miles southwest of Portland since mid-May under a Trump administration policy.

There are 123 adult men being held at the Sheridan facility from 16 countries, from Armenia to Russia.

The attorneys say at least two of the men separated from their families are Mexican nationals.

Meanwhile, a small group of protesters has set up camp outside the Portland headquarters of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protest the Trump administration’s policy of separating families after illegal border crossings.

About two-dozen protesters gathered Tuesday for a round-the-clock vigil and vowed not to leave until the policy was changed.

The protesters calling themselves Occupy ICE PDX are preventing ICE vehicles entering or leaving the facility.

The name recalls the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York in 2011.

‘PDX’ references a common nickname for Portland based on its airport code.