Border Patrol admits agents are deployed to Portland — but denies ‘arresting people for no reason’: report

Some of the federal agents snatching people off the streets of Portland are Border Patrol agents. The security forces have been described as "secret police" by protesters.

The presence of federal agents has been blasted, with Gov. Kate Brown (D-OR) urged to deploy the National Guard to arrest the fatigue wearing troops.

"Multiple videos posted online show camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and unmarked vehicles to transport arrested protesters," Reuters reported Friday evening. "A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokeswoman said on Friday agents had been deployed to Portland to support a newly launched U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unit, tasked with enforcing last month’s executive order from Republican President Donald Trump to protect federal monuments and buildings."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and DHS’s Federal Protective Service are also reportedly involved.

An unnamed "senior DHS official" defended the arrests, which have been described as renditions since videos have shown the security forces do not announce a reason for detainment, do not identify themselves, and do not read Miranda rights.

“Federal officials don’t go around arresting people for no reason,” the official said. “This isn’t communist China.”