As National Guard units moved into Skagit County late last week to respond to historic flooding, immigrant advocates say many local farmworkers were facing a different kind of challenge: the pressure to keep working in dangerous conditions and the longer-term possibility of increased immigration enforcement here in the new year.
In a Dec. 14 press release, Community to Community Development (C2C), a Bellingham-based grassroots organization serving Skagit and Whatcom counties, reported that farmworkers were seen harvesting Brussels sprouts at a Skagit farm on Wednesday and Thursday, even as evacuation notices went out for what was forecasted to be a record flood in the valley.
This brought back memories of 2021, when Jose Garcia, an Everson dairy farm worker, was swept away and killed by a flood while he was on his way to work.
C2C has been advocating for farmworkers to be given paid hazard leave for lost wages during extreme weather events, encouraging community members to contact their state representatives to demand this change. Without it, many may have to choose between their own physical safety and their family’s financial stability.
But even in normal weather conditions, showing up to work can pose a risk to the lives that many immigrants have built over the years and decades in Skagit County.
Local activist fears surge in ICE activity
Rosalinda Guillen, the executive director of C2C and an immigrant and farmworkers rights activist based in La Conner, worries immigration enforcement might intensify soon in Skagit County.
Guillen, who was once a farmworker herself, believes this period of reduced activity might have intentionally coincided with the beginning of the spring harvest season, continuing through summer and fall when farms need more labor.
Now that it’s colder and farms are less active, the grassroots organization that serves Skagit and Whatcom counties is “preparing for another onslaught,” she said.
Marta Martinez, program manager at the Catholic Community Services’ Farmworkers Center in Mount Vernon, said she hopes that isn’t the case, but added that many have been staying at home more because work is limited, which might reduce their chances of being arrested.
Since the beginning of the year, the local immigrant community has been in emergency mode, she said.
Whenever the picture of an unmarked vehicle pops up on their social media feed, many stop going out. From what Martinez has seen, this has resulted in quieter roads, popular restaurants emptying out and fewer people walking into the center.
C2C has also been receiving calls from anxious community members who are scared to leave their homes because of unmarked but suspicious vehicles parked or driving in their neighborhoods. Families with children have been particularly on edge, Guillen said.
Then, once they deem it safe enough to leave their homes, people begin to trickle out again, and the cycle repeats. It’s an awful way to live, Martinez said.
“It’s always like a rollercoaster,” she said.
Still, while some miss work to avoid the possibility of being targeted, others can’t afford to do so because they have families they have to provide for and already earn low wages, Martinez said.
Guillen pointed out that arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants aren’t a new thing, but across the country, tactics have grown more violent, the rhetoric more hostile, and the detention centers harder to leave.
Since the beginning of 2025, 30 families — mainly of the Mixteco community — have come to the Farmworkers Center to seek help after their loved ones were arrested, Martinez said.
Last week, a woman came to the center asking for help after her husband was taken by immigration agents. The woman told staff that the agents broke her husband’s car window as he was talking to her on the phone. While detained, he was allegedly threatened to be sent “with the alligators” if he didn’t agree to be deported by the end of the week, Martinez said.
According to Martinez, most of the people detained are men, who often happen to be the sole providers of their families, leaving their spouses in a stressful financial situation when they already have no access to financial assistance due to their immigration status.
While C2C used to be able to get people out of the privately-run and for-profit Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, doing so has now become nearly impossible, Guillen said. As reported by the Seattle Times in October, detainees had better chances of getting bond, whereas now judges have been denying release to most undocumented immigrants who are taken to the center.
Be prepared
Though arrests and deportations are a painful experience some may not want to think about, Martinez strongly recommends people to have a plan in place. Don’t overexpose yourself, make sure all family members have passports so they can leave together if the need arises, and choose a trusted person to act on your behalf by giving them the power of attorney in case you are deported and need a legal guardian for your children or are unable to make financial decisions such as selling property.
Being separated from loved ones is already hard, Martinez said, preparedness spares families from an additional headache.
Report emergency exploitative work incidents taking place at Washington farms by emailing c2cinfo@foodjustice.org. To make a donation to farmworker families affected by the flood, visit foodjustice.org/donate-1.
Luisa Loi is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
