A dozen members of Congress are asking questions of the U.S. Forest Service about immigration enforcement arrests of five men camping with their families in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest over Labor Day weekend.
The Democratic lawmakers — including New York's Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Emily Randall, of Bremerton, a caucus member, and six others from Washington state — sent a letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz asking for much needed transparency" about his agency's role in immigration enforcement.
"The Forest Service is facing a myriad of crises: increased natural disasters like wildfires, deteriorating infrastructure, and a shrinking workforce — all exacerbated by the Trump administration’s budget and staffing
cuts," said the Oct. 1 letter. "Redirecting strained resources away from pressing natural resources, recreation and land management
priorities, and towards immigration enforcement undermines the Forest Service’s mission to care for the land and serve people."
Forest Service rangers accompanied U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers making the Sept. 5 weekend arrests at a campsite off the Mountain Loop Highway east of Granite Falls. One of the first known immigration enforcement actions involving the Forest Service, it has raised fears among Latinos and immigrants around the country about spending time on public lands, according to outdoor groups.
The Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for more information about the arrests and their cooperation in general.
In their letter, the members of Congress ask Schultz to confirm Forest Service officers were the first to target the men camping in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. They also ask for any agreement between the Forest Service and Homeland Security related to sharing information about visitors to federal lands and whether Forest Service resources have been redirected toward immigration enforcement.
The Forest Service also participated in July arrests of 13 people in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest. And in another example of cross-agency cooperation on public lands, the Border Patrol recently announced a National Park Service request for assistance led to the Sept. 26 arrest of an immigrant in Texas' Big Bend National Park.
"These operations are not making anyone safer," said Roberto Morales, manager of the Sierra Club's "Outdoors for All" campaign. "They are making families afraid of getting outdoors."
Morales said he's noticed fewer people signing up for conservation projects, especially those aimed at encouraging Latino participation.
Pedro Hernández, of GreenLatinos, a national nonprofit involved in environmental issues affecting Latinos, said he sees the immigration enforcement arrests on public lands as part of a broader trend limiting who goes to such spaces. He noted 11 national parks now charge a $100 fee to people who aren't U.S. residents. None are in Washington.
The Labor Day weekend incident began when a Forest Service ranger stopped by a campsite to warn the families there about fire danger, according to an account shortly afterward by 19-year-old Carmen, a member of one of the families who asked to be identified by only her first name for safety reasons. Rangers later returned to the site to tell the campers to pick up their trash, then came back again demanding to see the adults’ ID.
Still later, after the families had gone to bed, armed law enforcement agents appeared, along with two rangers, and arrested the five men, according to Carmen.
A Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed ICE officers carried out the Sept. 5 arrests.
"Although Forest Service law enforcement officers and criminal investigators do not enforce immigration law, they collaborate with agencies that do, the agency said in a statement shortly afterward.
The arrested men, Mexican immigrants who live in Snohomish County, were taken to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. One has since been released on bond pending deportation proceedings, while the others remain detained and have upcoming bond hearings.
© 2026 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
