An Oregon firefighter who was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) while battling the Bear Gulch Fire near Lake Cushman has been released from federal custody.

Rigoberto Hernandez, 23, was detained on August 27 and transferred to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. Hernandez returned home Tuesday after immigration attorneys filed a federal petition challenging the arrest.

“They had arrested him simply because he refused to answer their questions,” Matt Adams, legal director with Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said. “This was despite the fact that he was targeted while working on an active wildfire.”

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