Due Process for All
After One Year of Attacks on Immigrant Families, Our Leaders Must Uphold Due Process for All
By now, many Oregonians have heard the story of Jackie Merlos. Jackie, a longtime Portland resident, had her world turned upside down in an instant when federal agents arrested her and her four U.S.-born children in June 2025. The children remained in U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for two weeks. Meanwhile, Jackie was detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, for more than four months without ever being charged with a crime. An immigration judge dismissed the federal government’s deportation case against Jackie on October 14 – and yet, she remained in detention for another two weeks after that.
In an increasingly cruel and inherently unfair immigration system, Jackie was fortunate to have an empathetic, responsive community to help her fundraise and secure legal defense. Unlike in criminal court, people in immigration court are not provided with a lawyer if they cannot afford one. Because of this, the majority of people facing deportation go unrepresented against the federal government, which is represented by a lawyer every time. This is the case for millions every year, despite the fact that the right to due process is enshrined in the Constitution for all people in the United States, regardless of their immigration status.
As we pass the one-year mark of President Trump’s second term, we see clearly how his administration has created our current crisis of due process. Through indiscriminate raids, there are now more than 59,000 people like Jackie languishing in ICE detention, separated from loved ones and legal counsel. The administration is terrorizing communities, separating families, and denying people a fair day in court by abducting people who show up to their immigration hearings, firing immigration judges and replacing them with military personnel, expanding expedited removal, and placing limits on bond hearings.
This cruelty and lack of fairness is not what we as Oregonians want for our state. The overwhelming community support for Jackie and her family showed us the best of who we are and the kinds of solutions we want for our communities. We care for our children, we stand up for families, and we pool our resources to help ensure basic needs are met and freedoms are protected. And it’s not just Oregon—much of the rest of the country is with us. People across the United States continue to reject the administration’s terrorizing tactics and are advocating for their immigrant neighbors to be treated fairly and respectfully.
With legal services like those provided by Immigration Counseling Service (ICS), Jackie was released from detention and returned home to her children and community—demonstrating that legal representation is a critical last line of defense for our neighbors facing potential detention and deportation. One study shows that people with a lawyer are up to 10.5 times more likely to obtain a successful case outcome than those without. With outcomes like these, more than 70 jurisdictions nationwide have invested in legal representation programs since 2013—the momentum of which has been fueled by local leaders and service providers from diverse communities showing support for their neighbors.
With the second year of the Trump administration’s second term ahead, we need our federal leaders to defend our freedoms and the right to due process by rejecting funding proposals that would further expand ICE's capacity and supporting legislative solutions like the Fairness to Freedom Act, which would secure the legal right to an attorney for people facing deportation. And our state and local leaders must join the growing nationwide deportation defense field by expanding support for community-based legal representation organizations like ICS. For Oregon’s families, now is the time for our leaders to uphold and protect the right to due process.
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Please note that this information is general guidance and not legal advice. For legal advice, request a consultation from ICS or speak to an immigration attorney today.