Leaders in Oregon’s wine industry met with two members of Congress during a roundtable Monday in Dayton to discuss business opportunities and challenges, including the impact of aggressive federal immigration enforcement.

The hour-long roundtable event in Oregon’s wine country featured more than a half-dozen industry insiders and U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, and U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-California, who co-chairs the Congressional Wine Caucus.

Immigration enforcement emerged as an industry concern in the aftermath of local arrests this month. The owner of Newberg-based Novo Start Vineyard Service, Moises Sotelo, and one of his employees were detained by immigration authorities while on their way to work in recent weeks.

While the Trump administration has reportedly ordered immigration authorities to pause arrests on farms, restaurants and hotels, some in Oregon remain skeptical about the shift in immigration enforcement.

Anthony Van Nice, owner of Woodshed Wine Company, said he’s been Sotelo’s friend for more than 30 years. He described Sotelo as a family man, entrepreneur and community and church leader.

“He’s been living the American dream,” he told a group of 13 wine leaders and politicians on Monday. “To me, this was really a punch in the gut. It feels like an assault on our community and (it’s) really a human rights issue.”

Van Nice said he met Sotelo in 1995 when he started in the wine industry, and Sotelo was the “crew boss,” who taught him the ropes “with humor and patience.”

“What I want to say to this group today is I would like to challenge all of us to stand with Moises, to stand with all of our migrant workers,” he told the group. “I’ve talked to some winery owners who are fearful about, you know, speaking out and I can understand why. But I think this is a time we all need to be courageous, and we need to stand with our migrant workers.”

In an interview, Sotelo’s daughter described him as an “amazing dad” who taught her to always lend a hand to others with a smile.

Alondra Sotelo Garcia said her father is now at the federal immigration detention in Tacoma following his arrest Thursday but remains hopeful and is “trying to make good (out) of a bad situation.”

Salinas, whose congressional district includes Oregon’s wine country, said she had a Zoom meeting planned later in the day with officials who run the detention facility in Tacoma.

“I am trying to make sure that our community has connections, wraparound services to the family,” she said.

Salinas said it was also important for “Democrats to hold Trump to his word.”

“He said this would only eliminate criminals from the United States,” she said of deportations. “We still have fentanyl in our community. … I have not heard about him going after the criminals he said he was going to go after.”

Thompson, whose California congressional district includes Napa Valley, said the Trump administration is constantly changing its story on immigration enforcement and it’s difficult to know what may happen next.

“He’s got a different immigration story today, the last of which was, ‘We’re not going to go after agriculture and hospitality,’” he said.

In Oregon, a GoFundMe campaign has already raised more than $86,000 for Sotelo’s family to help offset legal costs and other expenses tied to his immigration case.

Tears ran down his face, his daughter said, over the outpouring of support he’s received from the community since his arrest.

“He’s not a criminal,” Sotelo Garcia said. “This is a hard-working man. Anybody who knows my dad, they know the kind of man he is. He loves what he does, he loves his industry, he loves his business.”

This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive and is reprinted with permission. Contact Yesenia Amaro at 503-221-4395, or [email protected].

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