Request Emergency Court Order to Stop DHS From Using Tear Gas and Other Chemical Munitions Near Gray’s Landing, an Affordable Housing Development

Portland, Ore. — A group of affordable housing residents and a nonprofit housing provider moved for preliminary relief today in their lawsuit challenging the federal government’s repeated use of tear gas, smoke grenades, and other chemical munitions that have flooded their homes with toxic substances. The lawsuit asks a federal court to block the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its agencies from deploying chemical agents that permeate Gray’s Landing, an affordable housing complex located next to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland.

For months, federal officers have fired chemical munitions toward and around Gray’s Landing during protests near the ICE facility—despite the protests being largely peaceful and despite knowing that the chemicals repeatedly enter residents’ apartments. The toxins have caused residents—including children, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans—to experience severe physical and psychological harm, including breathing difficulties, chest pain, dizziness, panic attacks, and repeated emergency medical visits. Residents report being forced to seal their homes, wear gas masks indoors, and avoid using their own living spaces.

The plaintiffs, residents of Gray’s Landing and the affordable housing provider REACH Community Development, are represented by Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC, and Bradley Bernstein Sands LLP.

The lawsuit argues that the government’s conduct violates the Constitution by infringing on residents’ rights to bodily integrity, personal security, and the safe use of their homes. It seeks ongoing relief to stop DHS and federal officers from continuing to deploy chemical munitions in ways that predictably expose residents to toxic substances.

“Gray’s Landing is a residential community,” said Margaret Salazar, CEO of REACH Community Development. “Families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities are repeatedly exposed to chemical agents deployed from the ICE facility just feet from their homes. Children are coughing indoors, seniors are struggling to breathe, and daily life has become a source of stress and fear. REACH is standing with residents to protect their health and well-being while the court considers our case.”

“This is my home, and chemical agents have repeatedly entered our apartments,” said Mindy King, a Gray’s Landing resident and plaintiff in the lawsuit. “The exposure has made it harder to breathe, and it has disrupted everyday life for me and my family. We are asking for these conditions to be addressed so residents are not repeatedly exposed in ourhomes.”

“The chemical agents being used by the federal government to discourage people from using their voices in lawful protests are harmful and have poisoned residents, including children,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward. “Federal officers know that poison is flooding apartments where families live, where children sleep, and where seniors and veterans seek safety—and they keep using them anyway, fully aware of the severe harm they cause. There is no legal or moral justification for this use of force–it is a profound abuse of power and violates the U.S. Constitution. We are in court to stop it.”

“The Trump administration is deliberately using chemical munitions to deter lawful protest against its activities in Portland, treating Gray’s Landing residents like collateral damage,” said Rachel Goodman, Special Counsel and Impact Lead at Protect Democracy. “This is just one example of the ways the administration’s campaign of militarized immigration enforcement is making communities across the country less safe and less free.”

“The federal government’s months-long poisoning of Gray’s Landing residents with tear gas and other chemicals is shocking and illegal.  We are filing this motion so that these residents do not suffer a single more instance of being exposed to poison gas while just trying to live in peace in their homes,” said Daniel Jacobson, Founder of Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC.

The lawsuit emphasizes that tear gas and similar chemical agents are designed to cause physical harm, are banned in warfare, and are particularly dangerous when used near homes and enclosed spaces. Plaintiffs argue that the government’s actions were not necessary to address any imminent threat and instead reflected deliberate indifference to the foreseeable harm inflicted on innocent residents.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to immediately block further use of chemical munitions near Gray’s Landing while the case proceeds, to prevent additional irreparable harm.

The case is REACH Community Development et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al.  

Read the filing here.