IRS participates in immigration raid at Kent beverage company
In one of the first immigration raids involving the Internal Revenue Service, federal agents arrested 17 people at a Kent beverage manufacturing company Tuesday.
The IRS’ criminal investigation division helped execute a federal search warrant at Eagle Beverage and Accessories Products, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson David Yost. ICE and Border Patrol also carried out the raid, which appears to be the second workplace roundup in Washington since President Donald Trump returned to office in January.
“I haven’t seen anything like this,” said Seattle immigration attorney Adam Boyd, referring to IRS’ participation. But he said he has been expecting such a development.
In February, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent she wanted to deputize IRS criminal investigators to help root out immigration violations, according to news reports. Noem noted the Treasury Department has “qualified law enforcement personnel.”
Boyd said he deduces from the Kent raid that IRS personnel have now been trained and are acting accordingly.
The Trump administration also made an agreement with the IRS that allows the agency to share information from employee tax records with immigration officials. A federal judge last week refused to grant a preliminary injunction sought by nonprofit groups who argued the agreement infringes on taxpayers’ privacy.
An IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson said she could not yet respond to questions about the division’s involvement in the Kent raid and broader immigration enforcement. The division typically investigates tax violations and financial crimes, according to its website.
Yost, of ICE, said in an email that the federal agencies involved were participating in an ongoing criminal investigation into the employment of people who are not legally authorized to work. Those arrested had fraudulently represented their immigration status, he wrote.
Federal officers, at least some of whom wore masks, can be seen escorting nine men and seven women in handcuffs and ankle restraints out of a warehouse and onto a bus in a video posted online by immigration lawyer Luis Cortes Romero. Another person who was arrested is not seen in the video.
Tim Warden-Hertz, directing attorney in the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project’s Tacoma office, said he arrived at the scene after the bus departed with those arrested. Some distraught family members were still there.
They told Warden-Hertz multiple unmarked law enforcement cars had been at the site. Officers blocked all the entrances and exits to the warehouse and kept people off the sidewalks.
The attorney said Wednesday he knows of at least one person arrested there who is now detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.
Last month, in what appeared to be the first workplace immigration raid in Washington this year, officers arrested 37 people at a Bellingham roofing company.
Before that, Washington hadn’t seen immigration workplace roundups in years. But they have taken place under previous administrations, including those of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
On Wednesday, it was quiet outside the Kent warehouse. Birds chirped, planes droned by and semitrucks carrying long trailers rattled through wide parking lots before backing into the building’s bay doors.
Hardly anyone walked into the facility, save for a couple of Eagle employees and a small handful of people carrying résumés. One man brought his in a manila envelope tucked into his jacket. He said he was there because he had heard about the raid.
A company employee at the site declined to comment.