In an emailed statement to Civil Eats, CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham said that the action was not a raid targeting farmworkers. “Agents were called to a location at a dairy farm located about 2.5 miles from the Canadian border by a concerned citizen,” she said. “This was not a special operation or a worksite enforcement operation, however, when agents encounter individuals who are in the country illegally, they will take them into custody and determine their immigration disposition, including potentially turning those individuals over to other agencies.”

The workers were members of Migrant Justice, an organization that fights for immigrant rights. According to Migrant Justice’s Will Lambek, “Such a call would have been a flimsy pretext at best, as Border Patrol entered farm property, chased workers through barns, and entered a private dwelling.”

Lambek also said there was no evidence agents targeted the workers based on their organizing work with Migrant Justice, although the organization has reported being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the past. In March, ICE agents arrested farmworker activist Alfredo Juarez during a traffic stop in Washington state.

Migrant Justice launched a petition and is holding a rally tonight at Burlington City Hall to call for the release of the workers. (Link to this post.)