ICE Wine: Arrests stun Willamette Valley
Community rallies to help beloved vineyard manager seized by authorities
It was only a matter of time before the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants reached the wine community. That happened Thursday morning, June 12, at about 5:30 Pacific time as ICE agents seized the owner of a vineyard management firm as he left his home in Newberg, Oregon, in the heart of the Willamette Valley wine country.
Moises Sotelo came to the Willamette Valley in 1994 and worked at several successful vineyards before launching his own firm, Novo Start Vineyard Service, in early 2024.
“Moises is not just a colleague; he is a father, a friend, and a mentor who has enriched our community for decades,” Laurent Montalieu, owner of Soléna winery and NW Wine Company, wrote in an email urging support for Sotelo. “He has no criminal record, pays taxes, and is actively involved in his church. His contrubtions to the Willamette Valley wine industry have been recognized with a recent [Oregon Wine Board] award, and his absence is deeply felt.”
According to an article Friday in the Newberg Graphic, Sotelo was in the process of seeking U.S. citizenship. Conceivably, that effort may have alerted authorities to his undocumented status and made him a target. KOIN TV reported that another worker in Sotelo’s firm had been arrested earlier, and the arrests have sent shockwaves through the Willamette Valley vineyard community.
“He does not fit the profile that is being fed to the American people right now,” said Rollin Soles, founder of ROCO winery, in the Graphic. “I don’t know anybody more solid than this.”
Sotelo’s story is similar to others in the media the past several weeks as ICE steps up arrests to fulfill President Trump’s promise of mass deportations of “criminals” in this country illegally. He is by all accounts an upstanding member of his community with no criminal record, not even a traffic ticket. We all interact with — even depend on — people like Sotelo in our daily lives, never pausing to inquire about their immigration status. Maybe that’s whistling past the graveyard, but “Papers, please!” is a line for Gestapo officers in a World War II movie, not for Americans living in a free country.
On the company website, Sotelo writes of a life full of joy in the vineyards and with his family.
“Since arriving in the United States in 1994, I have cultivated a successful career in the vineyard management industry, demonstrating a profound commitment to excellence and innovation,” he says. “As a dedicated professional with Novo Start Vineyard Service, I leverage my extensive expertise to contribute to the growth and sustainability of the vineyards we oversee. Beyond my professional pursuits, I passionately embrace family life, finding joy in my wife, my three children, and five grandchildren. This balance of career and family not only enriches my personal life but also enhances my professional perspective, as I approach each challenge with a keen sense of responsibility and a strong community focus. I look forward to this new chapter in my journey and the opportunities it will bring, along with servicing your vineyard exclusive to your needs.”
Not exactly the kind of person we want to kick out of the country.
Ironically, a few hours after Sotelo was nabbed by ICE agents, Trump acknowledged on social media that the raids were taking important agricultural workers the country depends on. He vowed change, but as of Sunday night Sotelo remains in ICE custody, while his family and friends try to get the word out to support his cause.
A GoFundMe has been established to help defray Sotelo’s legal expenses and support his family and business. As of Sunday evening, it had raised more than $62,000 toward a target of $75,000.
Trump says many things. You can believe what he does. Agriculture is dependent on migrant labor, whether it's vineyards, orchards, dairies, vegetable fields, livestock farms, etc. if he eliminates migrant labor, agriculture will collapse. I know this from personal experience. This will not make America great. It will make America wonder what happened to it.
This story is heartbreaking and deeply personal — even if not directly our own. Immigrant labor is the backbone of the American wine industry, yet remains unseen and disposable in the eyes of the system. What happened in Willamette isn’t an isolated incident — it’s a warning. For those of us who love wine, we can’t separate the romance of the bottle from the reality of the people behind it. Thank you for writing what many won’t.