#FREEMOISES
In the early hours of June 12th, 2025, my friend Moises Sotelo was pulled over by an unmarked vehicle on his way to work at his vineyard management services company. In a matter of minutes, he vanished from our community.
Rumors spread quickly through the Willamette Valley, and fears of ICE raids shook our agricultural community. Workers went home early, afraid of being caught up in sweeps. Friends and neighbors rallied around Moises’s family as we scrambled to learn what had happened. His family tracked his phone as he was first taken to an ICE detention center in Portland, then transferred just hours later across state lines to a facility in Tacoma, Washington.
I’ve known Moises for nearly 30 years—he trained me at my very first winery job. I was young and inexperienced, and he took me under his wing, teaching me how to make fine wine with his signature blend of humor and patience. Since then, he’s built a life, a business, and a family here. He’s not just a friend—he’s a pillar of this community, someone who has helped keep the valley running with his hands, his heart, and his quiet leadership.
This should never have happened to Moises, and it's not an isolated event. It’s part of a broader system that criminalizes long-time community members who work hard, pay taxes, and raise their children here. ICE’s tactics—ambush-style detentions, family separations, and community disruption—violate the values we claim to hold dear: due process, human dignity, and the right to live without fear.
Everyone in Oregon’s tight-knit wine industry works alongside migrant labor. These workers are our friends, our colleagues, and our neighbors. Even if you live far from the Willamette Valley, your life is touched by the labor of migrant workers every day. Our food system depends on people like Moises, and our communities are stronger because of them. We can’t look away. If we stay silent, we become complicit.
If you know Moises—or know someone like him—I hope you’ll join us in supporting his family and demanding his release. No one who has spent over thirty years giving to this community should be torn from it overnight.
—Anthony Van Nice
#FreeMoises #ImmigrantsAreEssential #KeepFamiliesTogether
Read about what happened to Moises:
The Guardian: “Ice’s ‘inhumane’ arrest of well-known vineyard manager shakes Oregon wine industry”
The Oregonian: “‘A punch in the gut’: Oregon’s wine industry on edge amid targeted immigration enforcement”
Local resources to support:
UNIDOS is a national organization that supports immigrant and Latino communities. Their Yamhill County chapter is doing outstanding work helping individuals affected by the recent ICE raids secure legal representation. They’re also equipping employers with best practices to protect their workers from inhumane policies, federal overreach, and violations of constitutional rights.
AIDNW supports individuals released from detention with compassion, helping them navigate an often cold and confusing process. I met the dedicated team at AIDNW outside the ICE detention center in Tacoma when I went to visit my friend, and found he was no longer there. He had disappeared once again into this bewildering and cruel system.