INDEPENDENCE, Oregon — Oscar Cruz Estrada says he’s struggling to understand why his older brother, who was fighting the Bear Gulch Fire in Washington, is now sitting in federal custody.
Jose Bertin Cruz Estrada was among two firefighters arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents Wednesday during an identity check requested by the Bureau of Land Management. Jose, who works for ASI Arden Solutions, had been called up a week earlier to help on the fire lines as a sawyer, cutting through logs and clearing brush.
Oscar said he got the call around 2 p.m. that his brother had been detained…