MONTAGUE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested four farmworkers associated with Red Fire Farm earlier this month as part of a six-day operation throughout the state, including a raid in Springfield, that resulted in the arrests of 370 allegedly undocumented immigrants.

According to Matt Cameron, a Boston-based attorney who is representing the four farmworkers, three of the individuals have no criminal record and the fourth had previously been charged with an immigration offense. Cameron said in an interview Friday that the four farmworkers were arrested as “collateral” during a larger sweep on March 20 and he intends to file an application for bond on behalf of all four workers.

“The pattern here that we’re seeing is that most of these arrests are collateral, that they’re people that are in the vicinity of people [ICE is] targeting,” Cameron said. “One of my clients is someone they were targeting, but not for anything serious; it was for an immigration offense. The others were family members who were in the way, basically, or picked up collaterally — they do not have records and there’s absolutely no reason ICE should be holding them.”

Attempts to reach ICE’s Office of Public Affairs for comment on Monday were unsuccessful. Sarah Voiland, co-owner of Red Fire Farm, which has property in Montague and Granby, declined to comment on the arrests.

Describing the nature of the arrests as “chaotic,” Cameron said roughly 20 law enforcement vehicles swarmed around one of his client’s homes the day of the arrest. He said he did not believe ICE had a judicial warrant to enter his client’s home and arrest him, but clarified that under President Donald Trump’s administration, ICE has prioritized prosecuting criminal immigration off enses related to illegal entry  and re-entry, which he noted was typically reserved for more severe federal offenses under previous presidential administrations.

Cameron said that while it is unclear when his clients might appear for a bond hearing in immigration court, he is optimistic that they might be released on bonds, as three have clean criminal records and all maintain “strong ties to the community.”

“The only reason that they would be able to actually go into someone’s house that way, legally, would be if they had a warrant signed by a judge for a federal criminal offense. That doesn’t have to be anything serious. It can be just a minor immigration offense,” Cameron said. “I do know from reports from the area, and certainly from what we’ve been seeing around Massachusetts, that ICE doesn’t care at this point whether or not they have legal authority to enter someone’s house. It seems like they’re just doing it anyway.”

In a written statement released last week, ICE described the arrests as being part of an effort to target dangerous and gang-affiliated “alien offenders,” and noted that of the 370 arrests, 205 had been charged with or convicted of significant criminal offenses.

“The commonwealth is a safer place for our residents to live and work because ICE and our federal law enforcement partners arrested hundreds of alien offenders and removed them from the streets of Massachusetts,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde wrote.

Amid sweeping ICE raids across Massachusetts, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture Communications Manager Claire Morenon said in an interview Monday that she hopes the South Deerfield-based nonprofit can spread awareness about farm owners’ rights during federal investigations and raids. She noted that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, play a critical role in the nation’s food production and agriculture industries.

“We are very concerned about reports that people are being detained without due process rights, which immigrants are guaranteed by the Constitution, whether they’re documented or not. We’re concerned that people are being detained without warrants, that people who are legal residents are being detained and threatened with deportation, and that a lot of the activities that are happening are extrajudicial and not constitutional,” Morenon said. “This is creating a situation that is very unstable and threatening for people who live in our communities, people who work locally and for our food production system in general.”

Friends of the arrested Velasquez family published a GoFundMe on Friday to cover the farmworkers’ legal expenses, as well as basic costs of living for their families while they are unable to work. As of Monday, 286 donors collectively raised $19,561. The fundraiser can be viewed at tinyurl.com/VelasquezFundraiser.

While Cameron said he is uncertain exactly where the four men are being detained, he believes two of the four had been held in Plymouth and Rhode Island.

“People need to know that this is a typical ICE arrest right now,” Cameron said. “Of the 370 people they picked up ... they’ll put out front the maybe eight or 10 people out of the 370 that look scary and have scary records and might be public safety threats. That is not at all, and never has been, the typical ICE arrestee. Historically, more than 50% of the people that ICE arrest don’t have records.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.