U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested two firefighters on Wednesday (August 27) who were battling the Bear Gulch Fire on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. The arrests occurred during a multiagency investigation into the contractors they worked for. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requested the Border Patrol's assistance to verify the workers' identities. Two individuals were found to be in the U.S. illegally and were detained on charges of illegal entry and reentry.

The BLM terminated contracts with Table Rock Forestry Inc. and ASI Arden Solutions Inc., both based in Oregon, and removed the remaining 42 workers from federal land. The incident has sparked outrage among some lawmakers and officials. U.S. Senator Patty Murray criticized the arrests, stating that the current immigra

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