Welcome to the Constitution-free zone.
If you live in Portland, Oregon, you are now officially inside the 100-mile “border enforcement zone”, a legal gray area where Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operates with expanded powers that override basic constitutional protections.
Wait, what?
Yep! Under federal regulations, CBP asserts the authority to stop, search, and interrogate people without a warrant, or even probable cause, within 100 miles of any international border or coastal line. That zone swallows up entire states and major cities, including Portland, which sits just 80 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean.
In this zone, your Fourth Amendment rights are paper-thin.
In this zone, buses and trains can be boarded without notice.
In this zone, being Black, brown, or simply not white enough to “blend in” can be treated as a pretext for government scrutiny.
And if this sounds dystopian, that’s because it is.
And it’s already happened before.
In 2020, the Trump administration unleashed CBP tactical units into Portland to crush protests with military-grade force. Masked agents in unmarked vans grabbed people off the street. They used tear gas on moms. They battered war veterans. They disappeared citizens off the sidewalk. And they did it with the same agency (CBP) that now operates freely inside our city’s limits.
Now imagine what they could do with the full weight of Project 2025, the far-right playbook designed to dismantle civil rights protections, weaponize immigration policy, and supercharge the executive branch with authoritarian power.
This isn’t hypothetical.
This is the roadmap.
And Portland is already in the crosshairs.
Here’s what you need to know right now:
- You do not have to open the door. ICE and CBP agents often lie, saying, “It’ll be worse if you don’t cooperate.” Do not believe them. They can only enter with a signed judge’s warrant, NOT an administrative one signed by themselves.
- Do not speak without a lawyer. Memorize this: “I do not consent to this search or seizure. I am exercising my right to remain silent. I want a lawyer.” Then stay silent.
- If you’re stopped in a car, record everything. Roll up your window, press your ID and a “Know Your Rights” card against the glass, and film.
- If you’re undocumented or vulnerable, avoid public transit hubs and events where Trump supporters may gather. These are not safe zones anymore.
- Memorize a local emergency contact who can act fast if you’re detained.
The American Civil Liberties Union has called the 100-mile zone a “Constitution-free zone.” The Supreme Court has never definitively ruled on the legality of these warrantless stops. But that hasn’t stopped CBP from claiming the power and using it.
This is about more than policy. This is about power. Who has it, who gets abused by it, and who gets to live their life without fear of being hunted on their own street.
If this reminds you of The Handmaid’s Tale or authoritarian regimes around the world, it should. There’s a reason these tactics echo what we’ve seen in countries ruled by despots where surveillance replaces safety, and silence is the only way to survive.
But we don’t have to stay silent.
We can speak out, organize, and protect one another. Portland is our home, not a militarized zone. We didn’t sign up to live under martial law lite. No one did.
Human rights don’t stop at the border and they sure as hell don’t vanish 100 miles from it.
So stay awake. Stay loud. And stay ready.
Because the Constitution doesn’t enforce itself.
