Lawyers struggle to reach Oregon firefighter detained by ICE

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — An Oregon firefighter who was arrested Aug. 27 while working on the Bear Gulch Fire in Washington has been located, but his attorneys are still struggling to communicate with him.

The man was one of two Oregon-based firefighters who were detained by Customs and Border Patrol following a Bureau of Land Management investigation

into two companies that were contracted by the government to assist in wildland firefighting efforts.

Following his arrest, attorneys from the Innovation Law Lab, who represent one of the men, said they had been unable to locate their client. Since then, attorneys have located the man and say he is now being held at the Tacoma, Washington facility, but they are still struggling to connect with him.

“He hasn’t had his access to counsel,” said Innovation Law Lab Attorney Rodrigo Fernandez-Ortega, who is representing the man. Neither of the firefighters’ identities has been publicly released.

“For at least a couple of days, he did not have his access to counsel, which he requested and was entitled to under the due process considerations,” Fernandez-Ortega said. “And my communication with him has been super brief and limited up to this point still.”

Fernandez-Ortega said that the reason there is still so little known is that access has been limited. He wasn’t able to connect with the man until two days after he was detained.

When they were able to connect, the call was too rushed to provide adequate support, the attorneys said.

“It’s super frantic, those calls, because you do get cut off. You just don’t know when, so it’s just kind of spewing information as fast as you can,” he said.

Though they’re still working to find out more information, Fernandez-Ortega said his client had been in the United States since he was 4 years old, and that he has been here for nearly 20 years.

“What we have seen are some of the most brave and hardworking and vulnerable communities (being) targeted in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest,” Fernandez-Ortega said.

He said that while this is the first time he’s aware of firefighters being targeted, there have been instances of other agricultural workers who have been arrested. He said the two are similar in that they’re both supporting our communities by laboring in hazardous climate conditions.

In 2021, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement acknowledging the impact of wildfires in western states, and stating that immigration officials would not conduct operations in places where disaster relief is being provided.

DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment.