On Wednesday, US Customs and Border Protection agents arrested two private-sector firefighters deployed to the Bear Gulch fire. Agents stopped two contracted hand crews for three hours as they checked identification. The arrests were presumably on immigration charges, though federal authorities did not respond to requests for comment from Seattle Times reporters. As far as we know, no WPEA members were stopped or questioned.
WPEA is concerned about the impact such enforcement actions could have on our members and our state’s fire response capacity, as well as on the lives of the arrested firefighters and their crewmates.
If you have more information about the incident or questions about relevant laws or policies, please contact Seamus Petrie at Seamus@wpea.org .
WPEA is hosting a training about members’ rights and responsibilities when interacting with ICE or CPB. That training is tentatively scheduled for the evening of November 13, and we’ll send out more information as we get closer.
Read the article about the arrests here:
Border Patrol arrests two firefighters battling Washington’s Bear Gulch Fire
