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By Keith Wilson
Mayor, Portland
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An “accident chain” is a collection of small mistakes or oversights that, together, can lead to an accident, injury or death. As the former CEO of one of North America’s safest freight trucking companies, and now the mayor of Portland, Oregon, I’ve learned to see these potential chain-links everywhere.
Earlier this month, I was summoned to meet Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski at Portland’s controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. In business, I asked for, and received, a workplace so organized and clean that we could find every tool or piece of equipment in the dark—"a place for everything, and everything in its place." By contrast, the ICE facility was a mess of overflowing dumpsters, loose body armor and crowd control munitions and a broken HVAC air conditioning system that raised both temperatures and tempers in the aging building.
It is little wonder why Secretary Noem has ignored or denied all regional journalists who have requested access to this facility, opting instead to fly in the least credible, most ideologically compromised hangers-on that MAGA social media has to offer.
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I felt similarly deep concern for the rank-and-file personnel I met. Most were far from home, overworked and exhausted while receiving no pay in the midst of a prolonged government shutdown. I can only imagine the family and financial stress they are under as they are forced to make daily, split-second decisions with immense human consequences.
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Words create outcomes. As a CEO, I knew I could never threaten or bully anyone into compliance; only patience, shared purpose and training could create the top-performing results I needed. By contrast, the words coming from the administration have been deeply irresponsible, including the threat of the Insurrection Act, a call to use “Full Force” in our city and the suggestion that Portland could be used as a “training ground” for the U.S. military. What good outcomes could this rhetoric possibly create?
In the meantime, the words and actions of the administration have steered the Department of Homeland Security sharply away from its stated core values. Can Noem, or any other administration official, credibly appear before Congress and state that Homeland Security still represents the values of "integrity" and "service before self," given the dangerous behavior and outright lies of recent days?
In Portland, warning indicators are flashing everywhere. Alongside community leaders, I’ve seen brutal accounts and videos of a teenager sprayed in the face with chemical irritants without provocation; other protestors, including 84-year-old senior citizens, being knocked down without warning; and the indiscriminate use of chemical munitions in such volume that we were forced to move an entire school. A federal agent delayed and threatened to shoot an ambulance driver attempting to transport an injured protester. While I’ve been assured there has been disciplinary action for some of these incidents, I have no way of verifying that any accountability has taken place, or if the federal agents responsible have simply been placed on a plane to brutalize and traumatize another community.
Every missed opportunity is a shame, and Secretary Noem’s visit to Portland represents a great shame indeed. Secretary Noem and I likely have many shared priorities, including stopping fentanyl distribution and human trafficking. Federal authorities can contribute capabilities and resources local and state officials cannot match. We could have also discussed how the federal government can raise its standards to those of our local police, who now lead the nation in crowd science and dialogue with activists, and who train to far higher standards in terms of officer identification, body-worn cameras, and use of force.
Instead, Secretary Noem’s visit was a blindly expensive, taxpayer-funded and ultimately unconvincing whistle-stop tour intended to prop up a ludicrous fable of domestic terrorism and conspiracy. The path this administration is on, however, is deadly serious, and the number of links in the accident chain grows daily. ICE has surged recruitment while dropping applicant and training standards. Signing bonuses are at an all-time high, threatening to attract individuals who place personal financial gain over principle. Deaths in ICE facilities are mounting, the latest a 67-year-old Jordanian national, and clashes with the public due primarily to poor decision-making and tactics continue to rise.
The path we are now on is one that the administration has chosen. Are our national leaders so fragile that they cannot contend with peaceful dissent? Are they so weak that shows of force, such as military helicopters deployed to rattle the windows of our neighborhoods night and day, are necessary?
The administration can, and should, choose another path. If I may say something directly to Secretary Noem, it would be this: every accident is preventable, and you are running out of time to prevent one in Portland.
Keith Wilson is the mayor of Portland, Oregon.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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