Why Is Trump's Border Patrol Arresting Firefighters During a Wildfire?

Illegal immigration has been a hallmark of President Donald Trump's platform since his first campaign announcement in 2015. But that policy plays out in such self-defeating ways that it's worth wondering what the president actually hopes to accomplish.

On Wednesday, The Seattle Times reported federal law enforcement had arrested "two people fighting the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula."

The Bureau of Land Management, "working alongside U.S. Forest Service, requested assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol as work contracts with two firms were terminated," according to a press release Thursday from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Out of 44 crew members onsite, "two individuals were found to be present in the United States illegally, one with a previous order of removal. The two individuals were arrested and transported to the Bellingham Station on charges of illegal entry."

The arrest was a reversal of federal policy under two presidents. "Absent exigent circumstances, immigration enforcement will not be conducted at locations where disaster and emergency response and relief is being provided," the Department of Homeland Security announced in 2021, during Joe Biden's presidency. And in August 2018, under Trump, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declared it would "suspend routine immigration enforcement operations in the areas affected by" wildfires in northern California, as well as "evacuation sites, or assistance centers such as shelters or food banks."

In a statement, Sen. Patty Murray (D–Wash.) called the arrest "as immoral as it is dangerous." (CBP's press release said the arrest "did not interfere with firefighting operations or the response to any active fires in the area, nor did it pose any danger to the surrounding community.")

"Hispanic immigrants play a pivotal role in wildfire response," Reason's Jeff Luse wrote this week. "Federal officials showing up to job sites and removing these workers from privately contracted crews will very likely delay wildfire response times and put more Americans at risk."

CBP did not reveal the nationality of the two people arrested. Regardless, it's especially ironic to arrest two firefighters for immigration offenses while they actively fight a wildfire that, as of Wednesday evening, was only 13 percent contained.

Earlier this year, amid wildfires in Los Angeles, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sent firefighters to help out. "We are a generous and supportive country," she posted on X.

Trump is now apparently kicking out firefighters during a wildfire simply over their immigration status.

If Trump insists on carrying out immigration enforcement even during disaster response, it raises the question of what he actually hopes to accomplish.

The Biden administration "oversaw an unprecedented flood of illegal immigration into the United States," according to an executive order Trump signed on his first day back in office. "Many of these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans….Enforcing our Nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States."

If so, immigration enforcers would certainly prioritize egregious offenders—the ones truly "committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans."

Instead, there is considerable evidence the Trump administration is simply rounding up as many potential deportees as possible, regardless of the actual danger they pose.

In May, Trump advisor Stephen Miller reportedly berated ICE officials for prioritizing violent offenders, saying instead they should "just go out there and arrest illegal aliens" by rounding people up at Home Depot or 7-Eleven. Last month, White House border czar Tom Homan told Fox News that immigration agents "don't need probable cause" to question and detain people and can instead use their own "observations" of things like a suspect's "occupation" and "physical appearance."

Focusing so much attention on people who are merely present in the country without permission—not just "the worst of the worst," as Trump says—has consequences.

After reentering office, Trump reportedly ordered ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)—which polices offenses like human trafficking, cybercrime, and financial fraud—to shift focus and instead prioritize routine immigration enforcement and deportation. Similarly, Trump has recently deployed federal agents to make arrests for petty crimes in Washington, D.C., tasks for which they were not trained.

This week's news is more of the same. Arresting firefighters during a wildfire simply over their immigration status undercuts the president's rhetoric on both immigration and public safety, and how he hopes to deal with each.

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