Editor’s note: This article was updated at 3:52 p.m. on March 26 to reflect new information obtained by the My Bellingham Now newsroom. 

BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A prominent farmworker activist was detained by ICE in Skagit County.

The Seattle Times reports that agents arrested 25-year-old Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino on Tuesday, March 25 as he was dropping his partner off at work in Mount Vernon.

He was briefly taken to an ICE holding center in Ferndale before being transferred to a Tacoma detention facility.

Community to Community Development (C2C), a social justice group, held a rally outside the Ferndale holding center after learning about Juarez Zeferino’s arrest. They told the Seattle Times that Juarez Zeferino has been vocal about farmworkers’ rights since he was 14.

Liz Darrow, Participatory Democracy Program Coordinator for C2C, told My Bellingham Now that Juarez Zeferino has long been involved in pushing for farmworker protection legislation in Washington state. He met with lawmakers in Olympia last month to discuss improving living conditions for immigrants and farmworkers.

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In 2015, Juarez Zeferino and his family successfully reached a $100,000 settlement with the City of Bellingham in federal court. He was arrested during a traffic stop, but prosecutors successfully argued that he was racially profiled when he was pulled over.

My Bellingham Now has also reached out to ICE for comment and details about Juarez Zeferino’s immigration status but have not received a response at this time.

Community leaders and lawmakers have expressed their concerns about Juarez Zeferino’s arrest.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen says that Juarez Zeferino was among a group of people taken into custody, adding that there’s no indication that they should have been targeted by immigration officials. The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that their aggressive immigration policies were aimed at deporting those with lengthy criminal records.

In a statement sent to My Bellingham Now, Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund said, “Lelo is a leader in our area whose activism has helped shine a vital spotlight on immigrant and farmworker needs and rights. His voice represents the thousands of people who work in our region providing essential services that sustain us all. He was a valuable contributor to City advisory group activities, in support of our shared goal of maintaining and protecting the rights and dignity of all residents. We were shocked and saddened to learn of Lelo’s detention, which we heard of during the inaugural meeting of our new Keep Washington Working Act Work Group. His leadership and passionate advocacy were on our minds as we launched this important work and we share concerns for his well-being along with everyone who knows and loves him. We will continue to monitor his case alongside our federal representatives, who are actively involved on Lelo’s behalf.”

C2C Development founder Rosalinda Guillen told the Seattle Times that she believes Juarez’s arrest was due to his relentless activism.

Darrow added that local governments in northwest Washington are not doing enough to protect immigrants.

Bellingham City Council voted to dissolve their Immigration Advisory Board (IAB) late last year, replacing it with a group called the Keep Washington Working Act Work Group (KWWA). At the time of IAB’s dissolution, councilmember Hannah Stone said it was replaced with the KWWA Work Group to better connect the local complaints and recommendations to statewide resources.

“A lot of those recommendations didn’t really have anywhere to go, because the IAB was sort of operating in isolation,” Stone said. “The [KWWA] work group really is focused on bringing everyone to the table, so having impacted members of the immigrant community, as well as ex officio members of the mayor’s office, the city council, as well as the police department, the fire department, EMS, the 911 dispatch, all in the same room.”

Since its creation, the KWWA Work Group has only met once—on Tuesday, March 25. My Bellingham Now has reached out to councilmember Stone for further comment in light of Juarez’s detention.

According to the Whatcom Peace and Justic Center, C2C is currently collecting funds to help pay for Juarez Zeferino’s defense.