The Latino Community Association moved out of the Becky Johnson Center, located at 412 SW 8th St., the week of Jan. 16 and into a historic house near Dawson's Station. 

The Latino Community Association of Central Oregon has closed its offices in Bend and Redmond while immigration agents operate in both locations.

“ICE has been in the community,” said Mary Murphy, deputy director of the nonprofit.

Murphy said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been knocking on doors, visiting businesses and showing up at work sites across Deschutes County since late last week. Some people have been detained and transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington and later deported, she said.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the United States illegally — an issue that has long fired up his GOP base. The crackdown intensified a few weeks ago when Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement a quota of 3,000 arrests a day, up from 650 a day in the first five months of Trump’s second term.

Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels said that he has not seen any uniformed ICE agents at the county courthouse, but the Latino Community Association says that ICE agents have been wearing plain clothes and driving in unmarked vehicles.

Murphy said staff noticed unmarked vehicles parked outside the organization’s offices in both Bend and Redmond and decided to close both locations and shift to virtual appointments with their clients. The organization has turned to social media to disseminate information and counsel immigrants on their rights.

The Latino Community Association has thousands of clients throughout the region and offers everything from language classes to legal advice for the immigration process.

Much of that in-person work has been tabled.

“We made that decision to avoid gatherings,” said Murphy. “That’s why we’ve canceled a lot of our in-person events.”

Murphy said association staff have verified that multiple people were detained from a local construction site, and others were detained at their homes and workplaces. She said clients have told her about plainclothed ICE agents knocking on their doors and saying they were there for a “welfare check.”

She said she knows of people at various stages of the immigration process who have stopped going to work and school.

“There is a lot of fear, it’s very traumatic for a lot of people,” she said. “The fear is real, it’s palpable.”

Murphy said she has advised Hispanic people to have documentation — passport, green card, license — on their person in case they encounter ICE agents. She also recommended people carry a “red card,” distributed by the association, that spells out the rights all individuals have when interacting with immigration officers.

Murphy also said noncitizens should know their “A-number” and share with their family and legal representatives. An “A-number” is assigned to noncitizens while they navigate the U.S. immigration system. If someone is detained and incarcerated, that number is one of the few ways that people can track them and try to help.

“We are seeing a lot of people disappear for days and then show up somewhere,” said Murphy. “That number helps us be informed and able to respond.”

Bulletin reporter Morgan Owen contributed to this report.