KEIZER, Ore — Attorneys representing a Keizer firefighter who was detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents while fighting a Washington state wildfire have filed a habeas corpus petition and a motion for a temporary restraining order, arguing that his detention was unlawful.
Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez, 23, was arrested at the end of August while working the Bear Gulch Fire in Washington. It was his third fire season as a wildland firefighter — specifically, as a sawyer, which involves cutting down trees and clearing vegetation to manage wildfire spread.
Jordan Cunnings, the legal director at Innovation Law Lab, said this is the first time they know of where there's been immigration enforcement on the site of active wildfire response.
Hernandez's attorneys said the arrest marks the fir