When Brandon Jordan joined U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas’ team in 2023, much of his work with local Latino communities focused on protecting farmworker rights and supporting the dreams of their children. “We were doing a lot of really great, positive events,” Jordan said of his work in Marion, P olk and Yamhill counties. “Then after Trump came into office, it just naturally had to shift,” Jordan said.Now, he said, immigration enforcement is the top concern. For Salem-area immigrants and their families, the work of the congresswoman’s team goes beyond what the general public sees in strongly worded letters and hears in statements made from behind a podium.  Salinas’ staff work directly with community members to respond to reports of immigration enforcement, seek information from federal agencies and to check on the welfare of people in custody. In a joint interview, Salinas and Jordan, who is now the deputy district director for the congresswoman, shared insight on what happens in their office behind the scenes after someone in Salem is arrested by federal immigration agents. As a member of Congress, Salinas has staff available to answer constituents’ questions and help them through federal issues, which can include problems with federal programs like Medicare and Social Security, or applying for a passport. Salinas said that since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, her role as Salem’s representative in Congress has gone from bipartisan collaboration to playing defense.“He is throwing so much at us, and at the American public that none of us want. Things that are unconstitutional, things that break the law, things where our local law enforcement may be adhering to protocols and laws (while) they are not,” Salinas said.  Trump was inaugurated for the second time in January 2025, and in February announced tariffs on imported goods from major trading partners. Salinas said that announcement also coincided with a palpable turning point in immigration enforcement.“It felt like, starting last March, we started hearing about different cases around ICE activity and detentions in Marion County and Yamhill County. At first, things started very slowly. We could take these cases one by one,” Salinas said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I don’t even necessarily know that we had a process in place.”Arrests picked up in the fall, Jordan said. “We now have our systems in place because we don’t know when the next influx could be,” Jones said. “At a certain point, we went from having one or two people a week to knowing dozens of people being taken, and the rapid responder teams didn’t know all the IDs of people being taken. They were taken in vans.” Oregon saw a historic increase in immigration arrests toward the end of last year, with a spike from October through December, according to data analysis by the University of Washington. Marion County saw 122 immigration arrests during that period, according to the researchers.Amid the increase, federal immigration agents arrested 26 on Veteran’s Day in north and east Salem, the largest single-day total that Salem had seen in years, according to local advocacy groups. Jordan said the arrests have decreased in the aftermath of the protests in Minnesota. The ofrenda in front of the Oregon Capitol at the vigil remembering people who died in ICE custody on Monday, March 16, 2026. (LAURA TESLER for Salem Reporter) As of late March, Jordan was working on six active cases, and is now part of the immediate coordinated community response to news of arrests.  Jordan said he first hears about new cases from local Latino organizations, from the news, or when a family member or witness calls the office directly.He said the first thing he does is message the area’s rapid responder teams to see what they’ve been able to verify. Rapid responders are local organizations that gather reports about immigration enforcement activity through calls and video recordings.Jordan tries to get in touch with the family as soon as possible, and to help them find an attorney if they don’t already have one. He’ll typically call Innovation Law Lab or the Equity Corps of Oregon. “That is typically the best first step,” Salinas said, and gives them a higher chance of remaining in the country. “Typically, when you have legal representation, your case will fare better.” Having an attorney also makes it easier to navigate the detention system, she said. Salem-area detainees are typically sent to Portland for processing, before going to a longer-term detention center in Tacoma, Alaska or Texas. Her first priority is making sure their location is known. “We need to track where these people are. It is not okay to disappear them without any trace of their last known location. And ICE is supposed to understand where they are at any moment,” she said. Salinas said there was recently a case where the attorney couldn’t find their client in the system.“(ICE) did not input this person’s information into the system. And the attorney and the family were very frightened. And so were we,” Salinas said.The congresswoman said she went to the Portland processing facility, and asked ICE what was going on. She said ICE admitted to making the error.“They said ‘Honestly, we made a mistake. They should have been put in the system, and they were not,’” Salinas said. Having an attorney also makes it easier to get a privacy release waiver in front of the detained person. Once they sign it, Jordan can request more in-depth information from federal agencies about the person’s health, background, criminal history and pending cases. Because he represents a member of Congress, ICE is required to answer him. The detained person’s health is a priority for Jordan. Even without a privacy waiver signed, he can make a wellness check on anyone with their name and either their A-Number, an identification number given to immigrants, or date of birth.  “Just recently, I was told that someone who has a lung condition, they were only being given Tylenol. We did a wellness check, and their prescription now has gotten changed. It’s still not exactly what they should be taking, but they’re on a slightly better pain medication than they were previously,” Jordan said.He said that the information he can gather helps the family’s attorney, whose first move is usually to file a habeas corpus case to attempt to get them released before they’re sent out of the state, and often will give the team more time to respond. “That’s another chance where we can write a letter of support, be like: ‘This is a good community member,’” Jordan said.In a recent case, he said a judge deemed a constituent to be a flight risk because she didn’t answer letters she’d received in 2020.“It was Covid during 2020. She also happened to be pregnant, and had some health complications. So when she was denied bond, we’re now working to try to get information on: When did they send the letters? How much outreach did they actually do? Because that will help the case,” Jordan said.In her case, the lawyer is filing another habeas case while appealing the bond, he said. In some instances, the team decides publicity is the best course of action. That was the case in August, when a Keizer wildland firefighter was arrested despite having a long-standing application for a visa. “We got reached out to by Innovation Law Lab right away, and said ‘We want to make this public. We think ICE screwed up,’” Jordan said, and they quickly put together a statement for the public.  The firefighter, Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez, was released from custody on Sept. 23. “Public pressure doesn’t always work,” Jordan said, adding that it is often supplemental to the ongoing efforts of lawyers. “Sometimes it does.”  How to reach your local Congressional representative Rep. Andrea Salinas’ Salem District Office:Phone: 503-385-0906. Email link. Sen. Ron WydenPhone: (503) 326-7525 Email: [email protected]. Jeff Merkley Phone: 202-224-3753 Salinas said that the public can help by serving as eyewitnesses and submitting recordings of enforcement activity. She encouraged anyone who sees such activity to tell their office, local law enforcement or a local advocacy organization.“We need to compare what ICE is telling us, what (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) is telling us, to what is actually happening on the ground. And those eyes and ears of community members is critically important,” Salinas said.  Jordan said that, though they can’t always get people out of detention, they want to be as helpful as possible throughout the process. “The first step is we need to hear from people,” Jordan said. Beyond the first response Over in Washington D.C., Salinas’ job as a congresswoman involves tracking the Trump administration’s policies, crafting bills and working with colleagues on shared issues.Salinas, whose father immigrated from Mexico, is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. That group of senators and representatives works together to build legislation that focuses on issues that impact Hispanic people across the country.The caucus has a policy expert on staff, who informs Salinas of changes coming from the White House and Congress that could impact Oregon’s Hispanic community. Salinas also has her own staff on the lookout, and keeps a close eye on the news.  Jordan also has weekly check-ins with the American Civil Liberties Union, Innovation Law Lab and Oregon for All who notify them of changes in the law and local impacts.As a member of Congress, Salinas participates in hearings to address issues affecting people throughout the country, and works to help intervene. Her colleague, Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, has been calling to close the Dilley detention center which has been holding children longer than the legal 20-day maximum.“They have a case of a 3-year-old down in Dilley, Texas, that has been held for 200 days. That’s almost a third of that child’s life. We’ve heard about incidents of kids who had asthma and did not have their inhalers,” Salinas said. “We have some pretty extreme cases going on around the country that I don’t think anyone in the United States quite recognizes.”Salinas said that, as a member of Congress, she can bring attention to cases and help answer questions for lawyers.“Sometimes, writing letters to ICE and CPB actually works,” she said.In February, when there was talk of building a detention facility in Newport, Oregon’s democratic congressional delegation sent a letter asking for information on their plans, and opposing any new centers in Oregon.“I truly did not expect to get a response from them at all. I thought they were just going to throw our letter in the trash,” Salinas said.But, in late March, Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, wrote back saying “ICE is not currently planning to expand current detention facilities or open any new long or short-term detention facilities in Oregon,” though he didn’t explicitly rule out future plans. “That felt like a huge win for us,” Salinas said.  Salinas said she wants her constituents affected by immigration enforcement to know that her office is a resource for them. “Folks in Oregon are tired of the chaos and the brutality. This does not reflect our morals and our values and who we are as Americans,” Salinas said. “I want people to know that there are things we can do. Are we going to be successful every single time? No, but there are things that they can do. There are things that we can do. And we are fighting tooth and nail.”Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. SIGN UP: “Your work helps hold leaders accountable and gives citizens a voice.” Independent reporting gives Salem a stronger voice on issues from homelessness to health care. Be part of that work. Subscribe today. The post How Salem’s representative in Congress works with families impacted by ICE appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less