Published 4:18 pm Wednesday, October 21, 2026

U.S. Rep Janelle Bynum (D-CD-5) is urging Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt operations in Bend as the community grieves the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting.

Bynum sent a letter to ICE acting director David Venturella after receiving reports of increased ICE presence in the Bend, which Bynum says has caused families seeking mental health supports after the school shooting to not access the resources being offered to them out of fear.

“Right now, ICE is standing between grieving families and the help they need,” Bynum wrote in the letter. “Silver Rail’s students come from every background, and my office is hearing that immigrant families are staying away from the mental health and community services set up for them. “Parents fear that a trip to a school, a clinic, a church or a vigil could end in detention or deportation. … And who could blame them?…