Why Did the Forest Service Request an Immigration Raid?

ICE and the U.S. Forest Service have given conflicting accounts of who initiated the July 26 immigration operation at Wilson Creek in Pisgah National Forest, where 13 people were arrested at a popular family swimming spot. ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams said Forest Service Law Enforcement made the first move: “they reached out to us along with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office and they asked us to assist them.” The Forest Service declined to confirm who initiated the operation, saying only that it cooperated and that its officers “have no authority to enforce immigration law.” Williams said it was ICE’s first joint operation with the Forest Service in North Carolina in more than five years.