TACOMA, WA – A wildland firefighter who was arrested by immigration agents while fighting a wildfire in Washington state has been released from detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, his attorneys said Wednesday.
Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez was freed Tuesday after nearly four weeks in detention at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. Innovation Law Lab, an Oregon-based legal group that is representing Hernandez, said in a statement that he is back home in Oregon.
Firefighters question leaders’ role in Washington immigration raid
The group said that the arrest of Hernandez was illegal and violated due process. The group’s petition for habeas corpus is still pending.
“I am glad that I am home, and I am excited to see my family,” Hernandez said in the statement issued by Innovation Law Lab. “I want to give my thanks to everyone — for their prayers, for the rallies, for sharing about what happened to me and the other firefighter. So many people stepped up to help, and now I want to help others just like they helped me.”
The immigration raid last month at the Bear Gulch fire in Washington state sent shockwaves through the wildland fire community. Wildfire veterans say it was a breach in longstanding protocol that federal agents don’t disrupt emergency responders to check immigration status.
Hernandez and another firefighter were arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which claimed they were in the country illegally. Federal immigration officials have also falsely claimed that the crews were not firefighters.
According to Innovation Law Lab, Hernandez has lived on the West Coast since he was 4 years old and worked as a firefighter for the past three years. He applied for a U-visa in 2018, an application that is still pending due to government backlogs.
“Pulling firefighters off active fire lines isn’t about safety,” Isa Peña, director of strategy at Innovation Law Lab, said in the group’s statement. “These reckless arrests are designed to frighten people and keep us from coming together in support of our neighbors, family, friends, and coworkers.”
Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at abrown@stateline.org
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