(SALEM, OREGON) Federal immigration agents carried out a sweeping operation across Salem on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, arresting 26 people in what advocates describe as one of the most aggressive immigration enforcement actions in the city in recent years. The arrests, confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), targeted several neighborhoods and involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who stopped vehicles, detained workers on their way to jobs, and left many families unsure of who had been taken and where they were being held.
Scope and nature of the operation
According to a written statement from DHS, the operation formed part of a broader set of “targeted enforcement actions” in Oregon aimed at what the agency called removable noncitizens with prior immigration violations or criminal records. Local advocacy groups, however, say the people swept up in Salem included longtime residents with deep roots in the city — including farm workers heading to the fields before sunrise and parents getting ready to take children to school.
Witness accounts collected by community organizations describe scenes more often associated with high-risk criminal raids than with routine immigration enforcement:
– Agents reportedly smashed car windows to reach people inside.
– Vehicles were surrounded in traffic and, in at least one case, rammed to force a stop.
– In a widely shared incident, agents broke the windows of a van carrying workers and detained at least nine farm workers from that single vehicle.
Community response and immediate effects
Oregon for All, a statewide coalition that monitors immigration enforcement and connects families with lawyers, began receiving frantic calls early Tuesday from Salem-area residents who said loved ones had been pulled from cars, parking lots, and neighborhood streets.
Jessica Montoya, the group’s network director, described the challenge volunteers face:
“By the time someone manages to call us, their husband or sister may already be on a bus out of Salem. The operations are so fast and spread out that we’re always playing catch-up, trying to figure out basic things like who was taken, whether they have children at home, and which facility they’re being moved to.”
She added that many families go hours without any official notice that a relative has been detained.
Arrest counts and tracking difficulties
While DHS confirmed that 26 arrests took place in Salem during Tuesday’s operation, Oregon for All initially reported 24 detentions, later revising its count as more families came forward. Advocates say this discrepancy underscores how difficult it is to track people in real time when raids unfold across multiple neighborhoods — sometimes before dawn — and detainees are quickly moved into the federal detention system.
DHS did not release names or detailed personal information about the individuals arrested, citing privacy rules, and did not immediately specify how many had prior deportation orders or criminal records. An ICE spokesperson pointed to the agency’s general enforcement priorities — focusing on people with previous immigration violations, recent border crossings, or certain criminal convictions — but declined to answer questions about individual cases from Tuesday’s Salem operation.
Broader context and trends
Analysis by VisaVerge.com indicates the rapid series of federal actions in Oregon this autumn reflects a broader national trend of stepped-up enforcement as immigration courts struggle with large backlogs and political debates over border policy intensify.
However, Salem’s November 11 operation stands out for:
– The level of force described by witnesses (vehicle rammings, broken windows).
– The fact many affected were low-wage workers in agriculture and related industries.
Oregon for All reports that, before the Salem operation, roughly 112 people had already been detained in immigration actions across the state in the first days of November 2025. Advocates estimate that in October more than 300 Oregonians were detained — one of the highest single-month tallies in recent memory — straining local legal aid groups.
Local coordination and legal implications
Local officials in Salem said they had little advance information about federal plans. The Salem Police Department confirmed:
– It was not given prior notice of the immigration enforcement operation.
– It played no role in carrying out the arrests.
That lack of coordination has renewed questions from city leaders and residents about how local law enforcement should respond when federal agencies conduct high-profile raids that leave neighborhoods on edge.
Under Oregon law, local police are limited in how they may assist with federal immigration enforcement. The state has described itself as a sort of safe zone for mixed-status families fearing that routine traffic stops could lead to deportation. Still, residents say there is little practical difference for families when federal vehicles line up outside apartment complexes or follow workers’ vans in the early morning.
Human impact and community trauma
For many in Salem’s immigrant neighborhoods, Tuesday’s operation revived memories of earlier enforcement waves under both the Trump and Biden administrations, when large-scale workplace raids or home arrests created lasting trauma.
Reported impacts include:
– Parents drawing curtains and keeping children home from school.
– Workers staying away from jobsites for days after the raids.
– Households facing immediate economic and emotional hardship from losing a breadwinner.
Immigration lawyers in the Salem area say they have scrambled to identify which of the 26 arrests involve people with existing immigration cases or pending applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). When someone with a pending petition is detained, attorneys often must rush to notify courts and agencies so hearings are not missed and benefits are not denied by default. That process becomes far harder when families do not know which agency has taken a relative or where they have been transferred.
ICE priorities and public criticism
Nationally, ICE maintains its mission focuses on people who pose threats to public safety and those who recently crossed the border without permission. On its official website, ICE describes how it uses civil immigration detention, at-large arrests in communities, and coordination with other federal and local agencies to carry out this mission.
Critics in Oregon argue the Salem raids show how those priorities can translate into actions that sweep up workers and parents with long histories in the country, eroding trust in law enforcement.
Advocacy, legal aid, and community supports
Montoya and other advocates report cases where U.S.-born children returned from school or childcare to find a parent missing, with neighbors or relatives scrambling to piece together what happened. Consequences include:
– Families forced to choose between paying rent and hiring a lawyer.
– Community emergency funds being tapped quickly — but resources remain limited after the more than 300 detentions reported in October and the rising numbers in November.
For people without legal status, the sight of unmarked SUVs followed by flashing lights can transform a normal workday into the start of a deportation case that may separate families for years. Even lawful permanent residents and DACA recipients often stay indoors during visible enforcement operations, fearing mistakes or misidentification.
Community responses include:
– Faith leaders organizing evening meetings to share information about rights during encounters with federal agents — including the right to remain silent and the right to ask for a lawyer.
– Organizers encouraging families to make emergency plans (designating trusted people to pick up children, securing important documents).
– Surge in turnout at informational gatherings since the November 11 arrests.
Legal and civil-rights concerns
Civil rights groups have called on federal agencies to explain why tactics like window-smashing and vehicle ramming were used. Lawyers note:
– Immigration arrests are civil, not criminal, matters.
– Use of forceful tactics should be reserved for situations involving clear threats to public safety.
They warn that when armed agents break glass to pull people from vehicles — including farm workers or parents driving children to school — trust in law enforcement can break down, making communities less likely to report crimes or cooperate with investigations.
Current priorities for advocates
For now, community advocates in Salem are focusing on:
1. Locating each person taken in Tuesday’s sweep.
2. Confirming whether detainees have legal representation.
3. Ensuring families know how to send messages and money into detention.
They say they expect more operations in Salem and remain mobilized to respond.
This Article in a Nutshell
On November 11, 2025, federal agents carried out a Salem operation that led to 26 arrests, targeting people DHS described as removable noncitizens. Witness accounts describe aggressive tactics — vehicle rammings and broken windows — and at least nine farm workers detained from one van. Local advocates and Oregon for All struggled to track detainees and inform families, highlighting limits in coordination with local police. The raids add to a broader surge of enforcement in Oregon, straining legal-aid resources and raising civil-rights concerns.
