More than two dozen protesters gathered outside the federal building in Eugene, Oregon, on February 26 wearing red knit caps modeled after a historic Norwegian resistance symbol. According to reporting by Oregon Public Broadcasting, participants described the hats—dubbed “Melt the ICE” caps—as a response to ongoing federal immigration operations under President Donald Trump’s second term.

The hats, which feature a peak, ribbing, and a tassel, began appearing earlier this winter in Minneapolis during Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Similar to the Norwegian caps outlawed during the Nazi occupation in the 1940s, they have become a symbolic gesture of dissent against current detention practices. Their use expanded nationally as the administration continued to defend its approach to immigration enforcement.

In OPB’s reporting, Eugene resident Mary Sue Backus said she knitted ten of the hats in two weeks, describing it as an act motivated by concern over warrantless detentions and the treatment of both citizens and non‑citizens. Backus told KLCC she viewed present-day events as echoing past violations of civil liberties.

The protest comes amid increasing scrutiny of federal operations across the region. In OPB’s story, Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the enforcement actions as targeting dangerous individuals. At the same time, detentions of naturalized citizens and the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good have contributed to public pushback.

While the demonstrators gathered in Eugene, immigration enforcement remains a live issue in Southwest Washington. ICE and Border Patrol have conducted periodic operations along the I‑5 corridor for years, including in Cowlitz County. Local advocates and attorneys have previously raised concerns about due process, transportation‑based stops, and the difficulty of obtaining legal assistance for detainees transferred to facilities in other parts of the state.

Though no recent demonstrations of this specific kind have been confirmed in Longview or Kelso, the themes animating Thursday’s protest—civil liberties, due process, and federal authority—mirror ongoing discussions in the region, particularly as families and support networks here remain vulnerable to sudden detentions happening across state lines.

Organizers in Oregon told OPB that downloads of the publicly shared knitting pattern surpassed tens of thousands within the past month, reflecting growing national interest. Whether the “Melt the ICE” symbol spreads further into Southwest Washington remains to be seen, but the concerns voiced in Eugene continue to resonate across communities connected by the same enforcement systems.