Following a monthslong investigation, federal immigration officers performed a targeted raid at Lamell Lumber in Essex on Saturday, arresting several migrant workers.
While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has accelerated its arrests of migrants in Vermont in recent months, advocates say the raid marks a new tactic.
“ICE arrests at the workplace are still not the norm,” said Will Lambek with Migrant Justice, a group that advocates for immigrant workers. “Most arrests are conducted in public places, so this is something of a departure from what we are usually seeing.”
According to Lambek, the officers arrested three men. The raid follows an investigation of Lamell Lumber’s employment practices, during which the federal Homeland Security Investigations unit in Burlington allegedly discovered counterfeit documents that led to the arrests.
Federal court records show that two men from Mexico — Alejandro Monfil Carballo, 40, and Artemio Cordova Mendez, 36 — have been accused of reentering the country illegally after being deported. They are currently being held at Northwest State Correctional Facility.
A judge decided that the men must remain detained at Northwest while they wait for their trials.
The third man who was arrested has not been criminally charged, according to Lambek. He was originally detained in Northwest like the others, but Migrant Justice only became aware of his detention on Tuesday, Lambek said. By then, the man had already been transferred and is currently being held at Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts.
According to Lambek, the man was unable to make a phone call in Vermont and could only alert his family when he was granted a phone call in Massachusetts.The Vermont Department of Corrections didn’t respond to an inquiry about whether the man was allowed to make an initial phone call. As of Thursday afternoon, the man had not been able to contact a lawyer yet, Lambek said.
The investigation and arrests come after lingering strife at the business related to workers’ rights.
On Feb. 7, migrant workers at Lamell Lumber staged a protest claiming the company fired them for demanding higher wages. When they asked to have their jobs back, the company allegedly offered to rehire them at $14.50 per hour instead of the $16 they were paid before. According to Lambek, the workers involved in the protest took severance pay and left Lamell Lumber.
Monfil Carballo was hired by the company shortly after the protest, Lambek said, whereas Cordova Mendez had been working there longer but was not involved in the February protest.
The investigation began in February when the Homeland Security Investigations unit in Burlington received information indicating that Lamell Lumber employs and provides housing to their workforce through Agri-Placement Services, an employee placement company, according to affidavits submitted by border patrol agent John McGarghan.
In March, HSI submitted a notice of I-9 inspection and subpoena, requiring Lamell Lumber to submit original I-9 forms, which are used to verify identity and employment eligibility. Federal officials also asked for payrolls from January onward, lists of current and terminated employees from December 2024 onward and other personal information on the workers.
As a result of the investigation, HSI said it found fake documents that led to the arrest of the two men.
“This is the first, to our knowledge, set of arrests that followed an I-9 audit,” Lambek said. “In that sense, it is unique.”
Brett Stokes, director of the Center for Justice Reform Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School, agreed with Lambek.
“Is it possible that ICE could have been doing this before? Yes, absolutely. But the fact of the matter is they haven’t been,” Stokes said. “I certainly have never heard about it happening in Vermont.”
During the Biden administration, a Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement program allowed people to report workplace violations and abuse without fear of retaliation. Immigrants could request to defer removal and be legally present in the U.S. for limited periods while investigations into the companies moved forward. Many workers benefited from the program, but it was terminated after Trump’s inauguration, Lambek said.
“The threat of retaliation from ICE is something that can create a chilling effect for immigrant workers and prevent them from advocating for their rights and denouncing labor abuses,” Lambek said.
Neither Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor Lamell Lumber responded to requests for comment.
The next court hearing for Monfil Carballo and Cordova Mendez is scheduled for Aug. 18 in Burlington. Since they are facing criminal charges, the two were assigned a public defender.
