Veterans rally near Portland ICE facility to decry deportations, 'authoritarianism'

Joseph Funk served 10 years in the Idaho Army National Guard, including time as an infantryman in the Iraq War. Early Tuesday evening, he told fellow veterans rallying in South Portland that war is coming home.

“This is not what we fought for,” Funk said, warning that the federal immigration policy and the crackdown on opposition in the U.S. bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the military checkpoints and raids he witnessed in Baghdad. Funk, who drove to Portland from Idaho to speak Tuesday, said armored vehicles and tear gas in American cities undermine what he and other veterans fought for.

“I didn’t carry a weapon so it could be turned against my own community. Did you? Will you?” Funk asked more than 200 gathered at Elizabeth Caruthers Park.

“No!” they replied, emphatically.


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https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/11/veterans-rally-near-portland-ice-facility-to-decry-deportations-authoritarianism.html