Residents of an apartment complex neighboring an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, are suing the Department of Homeland Security after being forced to wear gas masks in their homes, and shelter sleeping children in closets, according to a lawsuit.
President Donald Trump described Portland as “War-ravaged” last year when it became the focus of his anti-immigration operation. Since June 2025, the ICE facility in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood has become the site of clashes between federal officers and protesters.
The facility is less than 100 feet from Gray’s Landing, an affordable housing complex owned by REACH Community Development. The complex is home to 237 tenants, including children under 5, people with disabilities and veterans, according to the lawsuit.
Following months of disruption, the property management company filed suit in December, alleging residents are “suffering immense physical and psychological harm” as a result of tear gas that wafts into their homes when federal agents deploy it against protesters outside.
“Children living at Gray’s Landing have become accustomed to weapons of war exploding outside of their homes,” the legal complaint said. “Kids sleep in closets to reduce exposure to gas penetrating gaps in their windows and teenagers have had to learn how to properly seal gas masks.”
Residents have experienced difficulty breathing, “unstoppable coughing, severe burning in their throats and eyes, dizziness, headaches,” with symptoms often persisting for days or weeks. Some residents now have permanent symptoms, according to the lawsuit.
They often resort to sealing their windows and doors with tape, place towels under their doors, and “wear gas masks in their own homes, all in an often-futile effort to keep the gas and smoke out of their apartments and bodies,” the complaint alleged.
More plaintiffs have joined the suit in recent weeks to bring an end to the “shocking and unconstitutional poisoning of their bodies and homes.”
One plaintiff, named in the lawsuit as Whitfield Taylor, said that his nine and seven-year-old daughters “are constantly unable to sleep due to the booming flashbangs that federal officers deployed outside their unit.”
The children have suffered burning eyes and throats from the chemicals, in addition to “psychological trauma,” according to the lawsuit.
On nights when agents have deployed “flashbangs and chemical munitions,” Taylor’s daughters “have slept inside of the closet of [his] room, building a makeshift fort to feel protected,” the filing claims.
Another plaintiff, named Jane Doe, is a victim of domestic violence and suffers from PTSD. The use of tear gas outside of her home has “prompted episodes of PTSD,” according to the suit.
“In one particularly extreme incident over the summer, Doe recalls that Defendants’ tear gas munitions got inside Gray’s Landing and filled up her apartment,” the suit alleged. “Doe began to scream and cry and had significant difficulty breathing.”
Residents are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar federal agents from using tear gas that is likely to infiltrate their homes, the only exception being when agents' lives are threatened, according to the filing.
The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The lawsuit comes after another weekend of mayhem outside the ICE facility, where federal agents launched tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators — including young children — during a protest. The demonstration was described by Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, and other witnesses, as “peaceful” but agents deployed tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets as thousands of marchers gathered, they said.
“The vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat and posed no danger” to federal agents,” Wilson said, and called on ICE to leave the city.
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave,” Wilson wrote in a statement Saturday night. “Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame.”
