Tacoma, Washington - US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained a prominent farmworker and union organizer in Washington state, with supporters saying he was targeted for his activism.

Alfredo "Lelo" Juarez Zeferino is reportedly being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma after being detained in Sedro-Woolley on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old was driving his partner to work at a tulip bulb company at the time of his arrest.

"He tried to defend himself by not speaking to them and refusing to get out of the car, and they broke his car window," Rosalinda Guillén, founder of the eco-feminist nonprofit Community to Community Development, told KUOW.

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"He doesn’t have a criminal record, and we think that they stopped him because of his leadership, because of his activism," she added.

A member of the Indigenous Mixteco community, Juarez is a well-known organizer in Washington for immigrants' and farmworkers' rights. He received the Dotty Dale Youth Peacemaker Award in 2023 for his work.

Juarez has prior experience at the Northwest Detention Center. In 2015, he was arrested during a traffic stop by Bellingham police and sent to the facility. His family filed a federal lawsuit alleging racial profiling, and the City of Bellingham agreed to settle for $100,000.

A Bellingham Herald report from the time describes Juarez as an applicant in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Community to Community Development is asking supporters to donate to Juarez's legal defense fund, as well as to contact lawmakers to urge his release.

The Washington State Labor Council has planned a mass solidarity action in support of detained immigrant workers at the Northwest Detention Center on March 27 at 5:30 PM.