More than 50 employees at Premier Packing in Lynden were detained by ICE on July 22 in what advocates describe as the first "soft raid" in Whatcom County. According to worker reports, ICE agents lured employees toward a van offering free water before emerging and chasing them. The business owner believes agents "set a trap" to target a specific employee and said many detained workers "haven't done anything wrong." A volunteer monitoring ICE activity reported that agents in unmarked vehicles have been surrounding workers' cars during commutes and making arrests, with the frequency increasing from two to four arrests per week to as many as two per day since March.