When a clarinet player was arrested during protests outside Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement building earlier this month, federal officials did not hold them in the local jail. Instead, they were transported to the Clark County jail, along with two other protesters shipped to the Washington state facility in the past month.

Now, Clark County leaders are trying to understand why federal officials moved those people across state lines after their arrests. Neither representatives from the U.S. Marshals Service in Portland nor the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service could be reached for comment.

The three protesters were arrested Oct. 12 and held on charges of assaulting a federal officer, according to county records. They were moved to Clark County after U.S. Marshals asked if jail space was available, according to David Shook, the director of the Department of Jail Services.

While it’s not unusual for federal arrestees to be held in local jails, it’s rare for individuals arrested in Portland to be transported to Vancouver, Shook told the Clark County Council on Wednesday.

“The uniqueness part of this is that the events were Portland events that had no connection to Clark County,” he said.

While the jail held people in three separate federal arrests earlier this summer, those cases originated within Clark County.

“I just want to know the underlying reason why they brought somebody from Portland to Clark County,” Councilor Glen Yung said during Wednesday’s county meeting.

The protesters arrested this month included clarinetist Oriana Korol. Korol was tackled by federal officers while performing in the Unpresidented Brass Band outside Portland’s ICE building, where demonstrations have been happening for months in response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Federal officers were chasing another protester when they collided with Korol.

Clark County does not currently have a contract with the U.S. Marshals, according to Shook. That means it’s not reimbursed for holding federal arrestees. The 2019 Keep Washington Working Act also limits local law enforcement from implementing federal immigration laws.

State law requires county jails to hold those arrested by federal officers if space is available, just like they would with someone booked on state charges. Shook said it was unclear why they were held in Clark and not Multnomah County, but he noted that federal officers’ jurisdiction is not dictated by state lines.

“If we were overcrowded, we didn’t have beds at the inn here, then we could say, ‘Sorry, we don’t have any space. You’ll have to find somewhere else.’ But that wasn’t the case on that Sunday,” Shook said in an interview.

He said he is not expecting an increase in holdings in Clark County with the potential arrival of a National Guard deployment to Portland.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/24/clark-county-portland-oregon-washington-arrest-ice-immigration-deportaton/