Editor’s Note: The headline and video caption in this story were originally based on eyewitness reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement were posing as members of a religious organization handing out water. Further reporting established that the person handing out water was actually a local restaurant owner. When Premier Packing employees went across the street to take water, ICE agents stationed around the corner gave chase, according to Racial Unity Now. This story will continue to be updated. On Wednesday, one of the hottest days of summer so far, a handful of employees at a Lynden seafood processing plant went across the street to grab fruit-flavored waters, known as agua frescas, handed out by a local Mexican food business. Suddenly, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appeared, chasing the workers and arresting at least two of them. The business owner giving out beverages, who Cascadia Daily News isn’t naming because of fear of retaliation, said through a Spanish interpreter her stop at Premier Packing had been a last-minute decision after returning from a day of delivering agua frescas to other outdoor laborers, a summer tradition. She didn’t know immigration agents were in the area until she heard people yelling and saw them running through the back windows of her van. The owner said she saw one person detained by immigration agents. “It was very traumatic,” she said. Immigration advocates say the July 22 incident is the latest in a series of detainments that have targeted Premier Packing over the last four months. Agents have arrested at least 50 people on their way to and from work, bypassing typical workplace raids. At least two Premier Packing employees were detained by Immigrations and Custom Enforcement agents outside of the plant on July 22 in Lynden. In this video, people can be seen running as agents chase them. (Video courtesy of Jeremy Dorrough) “The activity isn’t slowing down, it’s only ramping up,” said Jeremy Dorrough, executive director of Racial Unity Now, a Lynden-based advocacy group. “It involves what I consider to be risky tactics, pulling people over on the side of the road.” Traffic stops are a common detainment method used by federal immigration agents. At the beginning of July, immigration agents started to increase the number of arrests at immigration check-ins, traffic stops and on the street, according to The New York Times. Two immigrants in Texas and Maine, although not the initial focus of agents, were shot to death during ICE traffic stops in mid-July, leading to reports that the method would be paused. But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on July 16 that the Trump administration is continuing to support and encourage vehicle arrests, NPR reported. Immigration agents conduct a traffic stop in mid-April. Five Premier Packing employees were detained in north Whatcom County. (Photo courtesy of Jeremy Dorrough) In north Whatcom County, detainments of the plant workers have typically taken place while the employees are driving to or from work, according to data gathered by an immigrant advocate group. For instance, federal agents detained five employees on April 20 on King Tut Road. Other employees have been detained on Guide Meridian. The number of employees detained from Premier Packing is notable, said Erin Burns, a member of an immigrant advocate group. “We don’t have any other business in Whatcom that we know of that has had numbers anywhere close,” to the estimated 44 to 50 employees detained, Burns said. As a result, the targeting is “terrorizing the workforce,” Burns said. Dorrough said a pattern of detainments has been established, one of which involves detaining workers coming from the facility on pay day. A spokesperson for Premier Packing confirmed the detainments Wednesday happened on business property. A fence was installed at the business Thursday as a result. ICE did not immediately respond to questions from Cascadia Daily News about the detainments. Democrat District 2 Rep. Rick Larsen said in a statement his office was monitoring the detention cases. “The President’s immigration enforcement agenda is cruel, hurting the local economy and making our communities less safe,” he said. “The American people deserve a humane, accountable, modern immigration system that allows immigrants to pursue the American dream and provide for their families without living in fear.” The Washington Immigration Solidarity Network, a group collecting information about immigration detainments in the state, told The Seattle Times it had marked a 45% increase in confirmed immigration enforcement between January and June. In years past, ICE and Homeland Security Investigations have targeted workplaces for large raids under the guise of checking I-9 employment forms. Last year, federal agents detained 37 people at Mt. Baker Roofing. A search warrant obtained by CDN found the business was surveilled for weeks as the government investigated the roofing company for employing immigrants with falsified documents. This year, state lawmakers passed a law requiring employers to notify employees five business days before a planned I-9 inspection. Dorrough believes the tactics used by federal immigration officials at Premier Packing, dubbed a “soft raid” by advocates, is a way to bypass the new state law. “To me, it builds on the suspicion this is because they can’t get a warrant, and if not, why are they doing this and why are they doing it in this way?” he said. Correction: Due to incorrect information, a previous version of this story misidentified the source of water being handed out to Premier Packing employees before Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained two people. The information was based on incorrect eyewitness accounts. The story was updated at 9:42 a.m. July 24, 2026. Cascadia Daily News regrets the error. Update: This story was updated at 3:11 p.m. on July 24, 2025 with comments from Rep. Larsen, Erin Burns, Premier Packing, and the business owner. Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.