U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained five workers on their way to a Du Quoin sawmill on Jan. 29, marking one of the first reported mass ICE enforcement actions this far south in Illinois under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The sudden stop, carried out from an unmarked vehicle, sent the men to detention facilities in Missouri and sparked questions about the legality of the operation, the workers’ immigration status and the role of local authorities under Illinois’s TRUST Act.
The five men – 53‑year‑old Carlos Sanchez‑Luna (Mexico), 37‑year‑old Guadalupe Hernandez Lopez (Mexico), 27‑year‑old Ramiro Lopez Alvarez (Mexico), 28‑year‑old David Ernesto Rodriguez‑Mejia (El Salvador) and 42‑year‑old Gilberto Gomez Perez (Mexico) – were pulled over while driving to Alstat Wood Products, a family‑owned sawmill just off Illinois 127 in Perry County. They were booked the same day and transferred to the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center in Missouri, where officials confirmed their intake according to a local news report.
Detention timeline and current locations
Rodriguez‑Mejia was moved from Ste. Genevieve to the Greene County Jail in Springfield, Missouri, where he remains held. Gomez Perez was transferred to the same Greene County facility on Feb. 3 and was subsequently extradited by ICE on Feb. 6, jail staff confirmed. ICE has not answered multiple calls or emails seeking further information on his whereabouts.
The Perry County Weekly‑Press, which first published the names on Feb. 11, cited an ICE spokesperson saying a sixth individual – 38‑year‑old Yecfren Alexander Alvarez (Honduras) – was also arrested. Reporters from Southern Illinois University’s Daily Egyptian and Capitol News Illinois were unable to verify his detention, location or status, and ICE did not respond to requests for confirmation.
Employer’s perspective and labor context
Alstat Wood Products owner Daniel Alstat said the arrests took him by surprise. “I did not dream of this, really, to be honest with you – until I got the phone call saying that they’d been picked up,” he told reporters. The sawmill, operating since 1988, employs about 25‑30 people seasonally and has struggled to fill labor‑intensive positions with local workers.
Alstat explained that the five men were hired through Midwest Lumber Solutions Inc., a contracting firm based in Missouri and Florida. He said the workers were on six‑month contracts and that Midwest Lumber was responsible for their employment paperwork, housing and transportation. “When I signed the contract for the five employees, basically it states that they’ll (Midwest Lumber) be responsible for them,” Alstat said. Midwest Lumber owner Diego Rest confirmed the hires and acknowledged he was aware of the ICE detentions, though he declined further comment.
Community reaction and legal backdrop
Neighbors who knew the men said they lived in a trailer on North Howard Street in Du Quoin from November onward. Some recalled seeing police activity at the trailer in prior weeks, but Perry County State’s Attorney Matt Foster said his office had no reports linking the men to any local charges, and a review of the online Judici court‑records system showed no pending cases in Perry, Jackson or Union counties.
Du Quoin’s mayor, Josh Downs, said local police were not notified before the ICE operation and only learned of it after a resident reported unmarked vehicles in town. Under Illinois’s TRUST Act, local and state law enforcement generally cannot cooperate with ICE, except in limited circumstances.
Legal scholars note that intensified ICE activity nationwide has prompted lawsuits alleging Fourth‑Amendment violations. The Perdomo case, brought by the ACLU, argues that ICE agents are engaging in racial profiling and detaining individuals without reasonable suspicion. Southern Illinois University law professor Cindy Buys explained that workers on temporary visas, such as H‑2A agricultural visas, are lawfully present and should not be subject to arrest absent criminal convictions.
What’s next?
As the five detainees remain in Missouri facilities, the next confirmed checkpoint will be any official statement from ICE regarding the warrants that prompted the Jan. 29 stop. Local officials have indicated they will monitor the situation for compliance with state law and will continue to support the sawmill’s staffing needs while navigating the complexities of federal immigration enforcement.
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