US citizen detained, held at Portland ICE building for hours, lawyer says

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – A U.S. citizen was detained by plainclothes officers outside his Portland workplace and held at the south Portland ICE facility for hours before being released, according to his attorney.

Frank Miranda was outside his place of work early on Oct. 2 when multiple agents wearing masks, who did not identify themselves, approached him and told him he was “on an overstay,” his attorney Michael Fuller said.

In a video that Miranda took of his detention, he can be heard saying, “What do you mean, overstay? I don’t know what that is.”

He told the officers that he was born in California. After objecting to being taken into custody and saying he hadn’t done anything wrong, an officer can be heard on the video saying, “We’re gonna put you in cuffs or you’re gonna get the dog.”

According to Fuller, Miranda was then struck from behind, handcuffed and put into an unmarked vehicle. He was taken to the ICE building and held there for several hours before being driven back to his place of work.

Fuller is now demanding the Department of Homeland Security turn over whatever documents they have on the case to better understand what led to the mistake.

“If they provide a perfectly good explanation of how they dropped the ball and it’s reasonable, then we will probably let it go, but if they ignore us or don’t provide any further information, then we may have to go to court and that may also involve asking for compensation,” Fuller said.

Oregon Representative Janelle Bynum said she was “infuriated” by what happened to her constituent.

“Masked federal agents aren’t welcome in our state and they can’t keep kidnapping Americans,” Bynum said in a statement.

Fuller, who said he has a copy of Miranda’s California birth certificate, sent a tort claim notice to DHS and a letter to its leader, Kristi Noem, requesting the documents and information used to justify the detention.

“I hope that ICE and the senior officials will just provide us the documentation,” Fuller said. “Right now, we’ve just been given no answers. And so that’s all we’re asking for at this point, it’s just answers.”

So far, Fuller says no one at DHS has responded to their questions.

FOX 12 has also reached out to DHS and Customs and Border Protection for comment, and has yet to hear back.

Claire Rush of the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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