We want to update you on what farm workers are dealing with. Last week, the Border Patrol conducted unannounced raids in Bakersfield and throughout Kern County on Tuesday, appearing at public places where farm workers and day laborers tend to gather. Workers have shared with us and with reporters that Border Patrol agents in unmarked SUVs rounded up people in vans outside a gas station frequented by field workers and a Home Depot where day laborers are known to look for work. Throughout the raids, Border Patrol appeared to be profiling farm workers. These raids have resulted in dozens of arrests of hardworking people, including UFW union members.
We are supporting those directly affected, but the impact of fear is more widespread. Workers across the Central Valley are scared to go about their daily routines.
To show the scope of the situation we want to share some news excerpts.
Cal Matters – A surprising immigration raid in Kern County foreshadows what awaits farmworkers and businesses:
It was profiling, it was purely field workers,” said Sara Fuentes, store manager of the local gas station. Fuentes said that at 9 a.m., when the store typically gets a rush of workers on their way to pick oranges, two men in civilian clothes and unmarked Suburbans started detaining people outside the store. “They didn’t stop people with FedEx uniforms, they were stopping people who looked like they worked in the fields.” Fuentes says one customer pulled in just to pump gas and agents approached him and detained him. Fuentes has lived in Bakersfield all her life and says she’s never seen anything like it. In one instance, she said a man and woman drove up to the store together, and the man went inside. Border Patrol detained the man as he walked out, Fuentes said, and then demanded the woman get out of the vehicle. When she refused, another agency parked his vehicle behind the woman, blocking her car. Fuentes said it wasn’t until the local Univision station showed up that Border Patrol agents backed up their car and allowed the woman to leave.
Los Angeles Times – ‘They just got my uncle’: Immigration arrests spark fear among farmworkers in Central Valley
Immigrant advocates say it was the largest enforcement operation in the Central Valley in years and fear that it could be a prelude of what’s to come under President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised mass deportations — a move that many fear will wreak havoc on the region’s agricultural and processing industries. It’s not clear exactly how many people have been detained, where they were held or why agents from El Centro were conducting operations so far away from the border. And Border Patrol would not provide details. Border Patrol has authority to conduct vehicle searches within 100 miles of the U.S. boundary. Bakersfield is more than 200 miles from the border but about 100 air miles from the coast. Elected officials from both sides of the political aisle expressed concern about the enforcement action.
Random actions like this are not meant to keep anyone safe. They are intended to terrorize hardworking people. This is a troubling preview of what we expect our communities to endure over the next 4 years. The UFW and our farm worker movement are hard at work on the ground making sure farm workers are prepared for this reality, without being intimidated into accepting dangerous conditions or labor abuse. We are putting out information flyers, running PSAs, appearing on radio shows and holding meetings with farm workers who need to know and defend their rights. Every family and every worksite needs to have a plan to protect each other, and we are doing everything we can to help.
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1/14/2025