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Families speak out after five men detained by ICE at WA campsite
Five Western Washington families say a Labor Day weekend camping trip meant to bring relatives together instead left five fathers and husbands in immigration detention.
GRANITE FALLS, Wash. - Five western Washington families say a Labor Day weekend camping trip meant to bring relatives together instead left five fathers and husbands in immigration detention.
The men were arrested on Sept. 5 during a joint operation involving federal immigration authorities and the U.S. Forest Service at the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The families say they are speaking publicly not only because they want their loved ones released, but because they want other families to know what they wish they had known before heading into the forest.
The five men remain in immigration custody at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma pending removal proceedings, according to DHS.
A family weekend turns into separation
The backstory:
For the families, the trip had been an annual Labor Day tradition.
They cooked together, spent time near the river, went hiking and watched the children play.
Carmen, 19, said the family had no reason to expect the weekend would end with five men being taken into custody.
"It was so nice. We were just enjoying the view, how it was, and everything," Carmen said.
The families say the adults returned to the campsite Friday evening after hiking. Rain began falling, and one family member had injured her back after falling.
Earlier that day, the families say two U.S. Forest Service rangers had approached the campsite over a complaint about trash.
Carmen said while there was not a mess, the group tidied up.
Hours later, she says the rangers returned and asked for identification from all the adults.
"All of a sudden he's like, ‘I need all the adults' IDs,’" Carmen said.
The families say some identification cards were photographed, and other adults were asked for their full names and dates of birth.
The families say they complied because they were concerned about creating a problem while camping on federal land.
Documents show how immigration authorities became involved
A DHS immigration enforcement record reviewed by FOX 13 provides the federal government's account of how the operation began.
The record says that on Sept. 5, the U.S. Forest Service encountered a group of more than 10 people in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest while addressing an unrelated Forest Service violation.
The record says the Forest Service suspected some of the individuals "may have been present in the United States without admission or parole."
According to the record, the Forest Service notified Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Ferndale and Seattle, and provided identification information for the people contacted.
An ERO arrest team then responded to conduct further investigation.
Dig deeper:
The record says DHS system queries and interviews were used to determine that the adults were Mexican nationals and, according to the agency, were unlawfully present in the United States. Interviews the family denies giving on site and rather notifying them of their right to remain silent.
DHS separately confirmed that ICE arrested five men during a joint operation with the Forest Service. The agency said all five were originally from Mexico, and remained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
"The U.S. Forest Service’s Law Enforcement and Investigation division routinely works with federal, state, Tribal, and local agencies to enforce laws and ensure public safety on National Forest System lands," the agency told FOX 13.
The Forest Service also said its officers and criminal investigators do not enforce immigration law, but collaborate with agencies that do. Those partnerships, the agency said, can involve checkpoints, patrols or targeted enforcement where public safety and federal land-management responsibilities intersect.
The agency has not specifically explained what role its employees played in identifying the five men or whether the identification collected at the campsite was provided to immigration authorities. FOX 13 previously asked the Forest Service those questions.
‘We’re police,’ family says agents told them
The families say the men went to sleep around 10:00 p.m.
Around midnight, Carmen says the group was awakened by people shaking their tents.
"We went to sleep, and next thing, we wake up to them shaking our tents, and they're like shaking, and they're like, ‘Come out, come out, we're police!’ They repeated that three times, and then they were like, ‘Come out if you don't want us to use our force against you guys.’"
Carmen says she initially did not realize the people outside were immigration agents.
She says she was pulled aside and told to stay calm.
"He's like, ‘We're actually immigration agents, and we're going to have to take your dad.’"
Carmen says the men were then taken from the different tents one by one.
The families say most of the children, ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers, were still asleep when the men were taken.
"It’s my family, it's my uncles. Like, it's like it hurts them. Like, after, like, waking up the kids and being like, ‘Let's go, we have to go because they took your dad,’" Carmen said.
The family’s account of the overnight arrests is consistent with what they previously told FOX 13 Seattle. The Forest Service has not disputed that its personnel were present during the operation but has not detailed their specific role.
Children now ask when their fathers are coming home
What they're saying:
The families say the separation has been especially difficult for the children.
Carmen says the children repeatedly ask when their fathers will return.
"The kids ask, "When is my dad going to come home?" said Carmen. "We get to call them, and they're like, ‘Why did they take you if you didn't do anything wrong?’ Like, ‘When are you coming back?’"
The families say birthdays and other milestones have now become moments of separation.
Azucena said her son's birthday fell on his first day of school.
"Today was my […] my son's first day of school, and his birthday is today, too," said Carmen. She said her mother's birthday was also celebrated while her father was in detention.
She described calling the detained men by phone so they could participate in the birthday celebration from detention.
"All we could do is call them through a phone and just, them singing, ‘Happy Birthday’ through the phone," said Carmen. "That’s what hurts us the most, that they can't be here with their loved ones when it's their birthday."
Family says they want others to know
The women say they are also trying to understand why the men were identified by immigration enforcement during what they describe as a family camping trip.
Carmen questioned whether their appearance or the fact that they were speaking Spanish played a role.
"What did they see? Was it our skin color? Was it because we're Hispanic. or what made them think that we were all illegal?" Carmen said.
That is a question the families say they still want the answer to. The federal agencies have not directly answered FOX 13 Seattle's questions on why these particular men were targeted for immigration enforcement, beyond the information contained in DHS records about the encounter and their immigration status.
Zaira, the wife of one of the detained men, said someone from her church told her another family had experienced something similar about a week earlier. She wants other members of the community to know about the Forest Service's collaboration with immigration authorities and to exercise caution.
The families say they hired an immigration attorney and are trying to raise money for legal fees and household expenses while the men remain detained.
What happens next?
What's next:
The families say they are continuing to work with their attorney to seek the release of the five men.
For now, the women and children are trying to adjust to life without the men they say helped hold their households together.
The families say their goal in speaking publicly is to make sure other families do not find themselves learning about federal immigration enforcement on public lands only after experiencing it themselves.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Alejandra Guzman.