PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler brushed aside a resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate calling for his resignation.
“I’m surprised that the United States Senate doesn’t have more pressing business,” said Wheeler to KGW, as he walked hurriedly between meetings at City Hall on Wednesday.
The mayor’s comments come the day after U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and David Perdue (R-Georgia) introduced a resolution to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
The resolution called on Portland’s mayor “to immediately resign so that a leader committed to protecting all law-abiding citizens and public servants from harm can assume the duties of Mayor of Portland.”
The resolution condemns Wheeler for keeping Portland police officers from becoming entangled in a conflict between protesters and federal officers outside the Portland ICE office.
The National ICE Council, which represents more than 6,000 federal officers, endorsed the resolution.
“The actions taken by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler against ICE employees living and working in Portland are reprehensible, and we believe unconstitutional,” said National ICE Council president Chris Crane in a written statement.
The resolution calling for Wheeler to step down followed comments from President Donald Trump on Monday. Trump criticized the Portland mayor in a speech honoring border patrol agents.