Immigration officials raid Bellingham roofing company, arresting 37

In what appears to be the first full-scale workplace raid in Washington since President Donald Trump took office, immigration officials descended on a roofing company in Bellingham early Wednesday morning and arrested 37 people.

Those arrested are accused of misrepresenting their immigration status and submitting fraudulent documents to seek employment, according to a statement released by a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Despite Trump’s pledge to carry out mass deportations, Washington has until now not seen raids of this kind, according to numerous immigration lawyers and advocates.

Rosalinda Guillén, founder of the Bellingham-based social justice group Community to Community, said many were wondering when such actions would start. “We were kind of waiting,” she said.

Still, said Edgar Franks, political director for the farmworkers union Familias Unidas por la Justicia, the raid at Mt. Baker Roofing came as a shock, especially given the immigrant-friendly policies of Washington officials. “We had hoped the governor and attorney general would do more to protect workers,” Franks said.

Federal authorities have authority to enforce immigration law, however, even in states such as Washington considered “sanctuary” jurisdictions because they restrict local cooperation with such enforcement. Wednesday’s arrests were carried out by ICE, U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs Border Protection Air and Marine Operations. Officers from these agencies had a federal search warrant, according to the ICE statement.

The statement cast the raid as part of investigations into “worksite violations and/or the exploitation of workers.”

“Worksite enforcement investigations focus on reducing illegal employment, holding employers accountable and protecting employment opportunities for the country’s lawful workforce,” the statement said.

About two dozen Mt. Baker Roofing workers held a work stoppage in 2023, alleging they were not provided bathrooms, breaks and water, according to the Cascadia Daily News. Owner Mark Kuske said the allegations were untrue.

At that time, the more than 40-year-old roofing company had 113 employees, he told the Cascadia Daily News.

After Wednesday’s raid, Kuske said in an emailed statement the company was cooperating with authorities and working to gather information.

“It is with a heavy heart that we navigate this moment,” Kuske wrote in the statement, which noted he is a Navy SEAL veteran. “Many of those impacted have worked for us, as taxpaying employees, for years, if not decades. These hardworking individuals were actively supporting our community by helping to build the homes and install the roofs that protect us all from the elements. Many of these individuals are active members of local churches, schools, and communities.

“Looking beyond the personal impact, we cannot ignore the larger implications of today’s events,” the statement continued. “Policies like the enforcement action carried out today directly harm small businesses like ours, making it increasingly difficult to operate and further inflating the prices paid by consumers.”

Many immigrant advocates and community members learned about the raid from a Facebook Live video taken by someone who said she was the aunt of a worker who had been detained and was standing outside the roofing company’s offices.

The video shows a handful of men in vests bearing the word “police” on the back standing outside a workplace. Their faces were covered. Parked nearby were numerous unmarked vans and a white bus.

“Don’t give up,” the woman who took the video shouted in Spanish to any workers who could hear her. Their only crime was coming here to work, she said.

While Washington hasn’t seen ICE workplace roundups in years, they are nothing new to the state. During the presidency of George W. Bush, ICE arrested 26 workers at Northwest Health Care Linen and, under then President Barack Obama, 28 at Yamato Engine Specialists, both Bellingham-based companies. When Obama shifted to audits in so-called “silent raids,” Gebbers Farms in Brewster fired 550 workers authorities identified as having suspect documents that purported to show they had legal status.

Trump, in his first administration, deported far fewer immigrants than Obama, despite promises to the contrary. Yet, ICE carried out a local raid then too, arresting 16 men on their way to work at Granite Precast in Bellingham.

Those large-scale actions sent ripples of fear among undocumented workers and the industries that depend on them, generating debate about immigration polices. This raid is likely to do the same.

Seattle Times staff reporter Manuel Villa contributed to this story.