The two firefighters arrested at the Bear Gulch fire had entered the U.S. illegally, according to a news release Thursday from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The statement is the first time the federal government has commented on the arrests that sparked outrage from elected leaders across the Northwest.
Federal officials say on Wednesday, agents from the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and Border Patrol carried out an operation at a wildfire work site in which the contracts of two private firefighting firms were terminated after a criminal investigation by BLM.
Border Patrol did not provide details of the criminal investigation.
During the operation, federal agents checked the identities of 44 people from the privately contracted firefighting crews, the release said. The firefighters were working on the Olympic Peninsula, fighting the state’s largest active wildfire.
The agents identified two people who were in the U.S. illegally, the release said. The Border Patrol release said they were taken to a detention facility in Bellingham. The contractors were identified as ASI Arden Solutions Inc. and Table Rock Forestry Inc.
Colin Fieman, the Federal Public Defender in Western Washington, said his office has not been notified of any criminal charges filed pending the actions on the contractors. Fieman said the men must appear before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest, at which time a criminal complaint could be filed. Fieman said there is a part-time magistrate in Bellingham, where the men were taken after their arrests.
A telephone message left with the U.S. Attorney’s Office was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon.
Border Patrol said in the release that BLM asked the agency, because of the “remote location of the work site,” to assist in “verifying the identities of all personnel present.”
Isa Peña director of strategy for Innovation Law Lab, the law organization representing one of the firefighters who was detained, said his attorneys have been unable to locate their client and speak to him. Peña said the firefighter was arrested unlawfully.
The Border Patrol said the arrests didn’t interfere with the firefighting operation and touted it as a successful government collaboration.
“This cooperative effort highlights the coordination between federal agencies in ensuring the integrity of government operations and maintaining public trust in fiduciary matters,” Chief Patrol Agent Rosario P. Vasquez said. “U.S. Border Patrol steadfastly enforces the laws of the United States and unapologetically addresses violations of immigration law wherever they are encountered.”
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., blasted the Trump administration over the arrests of the firefighters. “No one should assume this was necessary or appropriate,” she said in a Thursday statement.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
