r/Firefighting • u/AngronOfTheTwelfth • 1d ago

General Discussion Border Patrol agents arrested firefighters fighting Washington wildfire after they asked the fire crew to line up to check their IDs.

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What do we all think of this? Seems pretty nuts to me. They are actively getting in the way of wildlands guys as they do their job out there. I dont think this should be allowed or encouraged. Firefighting is a lot more important than .... risking 20 guys dressed exactly like firefighters crossing the Canadian border?

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u/Hugh_mungus_29 1d ago

Why isn't there any comments about the private employers that are collecting federal or state money and are taking advantage of these people? Those are the people we should be going after.

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u/paramagician 1d ago

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about this whole issue. The eVerify system for checking legal work status is trash. A family member runs a home repair/lawn care type of company, and several of his employees were just arrested for illegal immigration status. He ran them all through eVerify upon hire. Same exact situation as that chicken plan in Nebraska:

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/07/17/omaha-immigration-raids-are-symptom-of-broken-system/

The entire immigration system is completely broken. Many employers and immigrants try to comply with it, but every firefighter knows what trying to comply with nonsense is like. I think instead of indiscriminately rounding up everyone from lawn care workers to wildland firefighters, we should make a system that can actually be followed by people who want to follow it.

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u/Coffee-FlavoredSweat FF/EMT 1d ago

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin accused Old Orchard Beach, Maine, of “reckless reliance” on the E-Verify

https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/nation_world/employers-have-used-e-verify-for-years-ices-arrest-of-a-maine-police-officer-raises/article_5d5a989c-5075-5d57-860c-dc79394ac59e.html

“We put a system in place and legally require you to use it…but holy crap, I can’t believe you believed it! How reckless!”