Portland, Ore. – The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today granted the Trump-Vance administration’s request to pause a preliminary injunction that had been protecting residents of Gray’s Landing, an affordable housing community in Portland, from exposure inside their homes to toxic chemical munitions being used by federal agents.
The ruling lifts the district court’s order, which had prohibited federal officers from deploying tear gas, smoke grenades, pepper balls, and other chemical weapons in ways that are likely to reach the 209-unit residential complex, while the case continues.
For months, federal agents fired chemical munitions toward and around the housing complex during protests at a nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, despite knowing that the toxins repeatedly seeped into apartments, hallways, and common areas. Residents, including children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities, have reported respiratory distress, chest pain, panic attacks, and repeated emergency medical visits, and have been forced to seal their homes and wear gas masks indoors.
The plaintiffs include Gray’s Landing residents and REACH Community Development, who are represented by Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC, and Bradley Bernstein Sands LLP.
Plaintiffs issued the following joint statement:
“We are deeply disappointed by the court’s decision to eliminate critical protections for the residents of Gray’s Landing. The district court carefully reviewed the evidence and found that federal officers repeatedly deployed chemical munitions in ways that exposed residents to toxic substances inside their homes, causing serious and ongoing harm. Pausing that relief now places families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities back at risk while this case continues.
“No one should be forced to endure exposure to chemical weapons in their own home. The Constitution protects people’s right to safety, physical integrity, and the peaceful enjoyment of where they live. We will continue to fight in court to restore these protections and to hold the Trump-Vance administration accountable for conduct that has caused profound harm to this community.”
The district court previously found that federal officials were likely deliberately indifferent to the harm caused to residents, noting that the use of chemical munitions near the housing complex threatened “the most fundamental aspects of liberty.”
The case is REACH Community Development et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al.