Portland can begin levying fines against the owner of the South Portland U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building each time its tenants release chemical munitions into the neighborhood.

The city’s administrative branch published a temporary rule Friday, allowing the city to fine the landlord at least $5,000 each time ICE officers shoot chemical munitions, like tear gas, from the property.

The building is owned by Portlander property developer Stuart Lindquist. Lindquist did not immediately respond to OPB’s request for comment.

For months, federal officers have responded to protests outside their facility by shooting chemical agents into the air and at protesters’ feet.

In December, Portland City Councilors adopted a policy to penalize detention facility owners for “the release or deposition of chemical residues or other substances beyond the detention facility premises” into the street or neighboring properties. Although that policy went into effect in January, it had been on hold until the city administrator’s office finalized the rules and fines that went with it.

Councilor Angelita Morillo and Councilor Mitch Green, the policy’s sponsors, raised concerns last month about the slow pace of this rulemaking process. And, while they are grateful the process has advanced, they issued another letter Thursday sharing their unease with the potential vagueness of the pending rules.

“When rules are written without a clear factual basis or without the benefit of relevant expertise, they often fail,” the letter reads. “They become difficult to enforce, vulnerable to legal challenge, and costly for the City to defend.”

The new rule includes definitions for different chemical deterrents and residues, and a fee structure and timeline. Under the policy, fines start at $5,000 for the first offense, and grow by $5,000 per additional offense. Property owners who violate the rule must pay within 15 days of the citation – or they can appeal the fine.

It’s not explicit in the code language who is responsible for reporting a code violation. But most city nuisance violations regarding property are spurred by public submissions.

The rule is temporary and will remain in effect for 180 days before being replaced with a permanent order.

“Given the urgency of the moment, it is in our community’s best interest to adopt a temporary rule now,” Lee said.

The rule went into effect at 3 p.m., two hours before a planned anti-ICE rally at a park near the ICE building.

According to a city spokesperson, the rule will not be enforced retroactively, even though the policy went into effect on Jan. 1.

This news comes two weeks after the city announced it would continue to seek penalties against the ICE facility for violating a 15-year-old land use agreement with the city. That agreement prohibited ICE from holding detainees longer than 12 hours or overnight – a rule that the city says ICE broke at least 25 times in the past year. While attorneys representing Lindquist challenged this decision, the city said it will continue to use fines to penalize the violation.

Those monthly fines of nearly $950 could go into effect next month.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/27/portland-fine-ice-building-chemical-munitions-deployed/