In recent months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained several farmworkers and labor activists, raising concerns about potential targeting of union organizers.

In Washington state, Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, a 25-year-old farmworker and union organizer, was detained by ICE on March 25, 2025. Juarez, a member of the Indigenous Mixteco community, was driving his partner to work when ICE agents stopped his car. According to witnesses, when Juarez asked to see a warrant and reached for his identification, agents broke his car window and forcibly removed him from the vehicle . Juarez has no criminal record and is known for his leadership in advocating for farmworker rights, including efforts to secure overtime pay and heat protections .(TAG24, Truthout)

Juarez is currently being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. Supporters, including the Washington State Labor Council, have organized rallies demanding his release, arguing that his detention is politically motivated due to his activism .(Truthout, TAG24)

In another incident in Spokane Valley, Washington, ICE agents detained Jeison and Cesar Ruiz-Rodriguez on March 10, 2025. The brothers were on their way to a court hearing when ICE agents, in unmarked vehicles, surrounded their car. Despite requests to see a warrant, agents broke the car windows and forcibly removed the brothers, who are now being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma . ICE stated that the arrests were based on active felony charges, but the use of force has been criticized by local advocates and family members.(spokesman.com)

These incidents have sparked widespread concern among labor and immigrant rights groups. Rosalinda Guillén, founder of Community to Community Development, stated that Juarez’s detention appears to be an attempt to intimidate labor organizers . Similarly, the Washington State Labor Council emphasized that the freedom to organize and protest is under attack .(TAG24, KUOW)

Legal experts and civil rights organizations argue that such actions by ICE may violate constitutional protections. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has previously highlighted the importance of protecting the rights of migrant workers to organize without fear of retaliation .(American Civil Liberties Union)

As these cases unfold, they underscore the tension between immigration enforcement and the rights of workers to advocate for better conditions. The detentions of Juarez and the Ruiz-Rodriguez brothers have become emblematic of broader concerns about the potential misuse of immigration authority to suppress labor activism.(FOX 28 Spokane)

References:

  1. Bowman, J. (2025, March 27). ICE detained activist farmworker Alfredo Juarez Zeferino. The Stranger. https://www.thestranger.com/news/2025/03/27/79986297/ice-detained-activist-farmworker-alfredo-juarez-zeferino
  2. KUOW Staff. (2025, March 29). Hundreds rally at ICE center in Tacoma after detention of union members. KUOW. https://www.kuow.org/stories/hundreds-rally-at-ice-center-in-tacoma-after-detention-of-union-members
  3. Tag24. (2025, March 28). Farmworkers’ rights activist violently detained by ICE – “They broke his car window”. https://www.tag24.com/politics/refugees/farmworkers-rights-activist-violently-detained-by-ice-they-broke-his-car-window-3371956
  4. Hill, E. (2025, March 13). ICE agents smash windows of vehicle, drag two people from car in Spokane Valley. The Spokesman-Review. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/13/ice-agents-smash-windows-of-vehicle-drag-two-peopl
  5. American Civil Liberties Union. (2020, March 31). Federal court victory for migrant farmworkers protects their right to organize. ACLU. https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/federal-court-victory-migrant-farmworkers-protects-their-right-organize

Sidebar: Lessons from History—“Going Along” Isn’t Neutral

During World War II, both the German Police and the German Army (Wehrmacht) possessed the legal authority to resist the SS and Gestapo’s brutal actions. German law, even under Nazi rule, did not mandate blind obedience to illegal or immoral orders. Yet, many officers and officials chose to “go along to get along,” enabling mass atrocities through silence and complicity.

This historical lesson remains pertinent today.

In the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates under civil—not criminal—authority, and its actions must respect constitutional protections. When ICE targets labor activists or union supporters, it risks echoing authoritarian patterns. Just like in Nazi Germany, it’s insufficient to claim, “I was just doing my job.”

Silence is not neutrality. Injustice thrives when people look away.

Resisting wrongful enforcement, demanding transparency, and protecting civil liberties aren’t radical acts—they are American duties.

The Late Pope Francis has emphasized the sanctity of work and the rights of migrants, stating, “Work is fundamental to the dignity of the person. Work, to use an image, ‘anoints’ with dignity, fills us with dignity, makes us similar to God who has worked and still works, who always acts.” (America Magazine)

Moreover, Pope Leo XIII, in his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, asserted, “The following duties bind the wealthy owner and the employer: not to look upon their work people as their bondsmen, but to respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character.” (Catholic Legal Immigration Network)

These teachings underscore the moral responsibility to uphold the dignity and rights of all individuals, especially workers and migrants.

  1. Francis. (2013, November 20). Pope Francis on the dignity of labor. America Magazine. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2013/11/20/pope-francis-dignity-labor
  2. Leo XIII. (1891). Rerum Novarum: On the Condition of Labor. Vatican. Retrieved from Catholic Legal Immigration Network: https://www.cliniclegal.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/Modern%20Catholic%20Social%20Teaching%20on%20Immigration%20Notable%20Quotes.pdf
  3. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (n.d.). German police and the Nazi state. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-police-and-the-nazi-state

Until there is a change in the administration of the USA, be careful out there.

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