Residents have reported that immigration raids have begun in Kern and Tulare counties in California. Photo: P360 file
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US President-elect Donald Trump will take office on January 20, but his threats to carry out mass raids against immigrants in the country have already begun, according to residents of Kern and Tulare counties in California.
To Mari Pérez-Ruíz, executive director of the Alliance for the Empowerment of the Central Valley (Central Valley Empowerment Alliance), the situation took her by surprise, as well as the families that the non-profit organization serves.
“It took us all by surprise, to be honest. We thought that maybe, starting January 20th, that would happen, but we are still in this administration and it is happening,” she said in a meeting with Peninsula 360 Press and Ethnic Media Services.
The activist said that, in light of these events, they have taken action and have met to work with community leaders and obtain accurate data on the people who have been arrested.
He also stressed that the organization has compiled a list of lawyers who are willing to provide their services to immigrants who need them, as this is only the beginning.
“I just think that, you know, we’re going to hear more of this, and it’s going to be — hopefully it’s not something that becomes normalized, that we think every day is like this, but we’re preparing for it, that it’s going to be continuous. It’s a surprise that it’s happening now, the expectation was that it was going to start after (Donald Trump’s) inauguration,” Pérez-Ruíz emphasized.
Although the raids were not expected for a couple of weeks, the organization has learned that there are sheriffs, police chiefs and law enforcement officers who are aligned and in agreement with what Donald Trump has said on immigration matters, since they sympathize with his ideology.
Mari Pérez-Ruíz is well acquainted with the situation in California's Central Valley, where many of the farm workers are immigrants, and a large part of them are undocumented, but their work is highly necessary for the life and economy not only of the state, but of the country.
“There is this perception that there is a labor shortage and there are so many people looking for work. The narrative has changed, and it has been that we need workers. So there is an influx of H-2A (visas) (for temporary agricultural workers), you know, which was actually decisive,” he explained.
As of 7:30 p.m. this Wednesday, Peninsula 360 Press was informed by Mari Pérez-Ruíz that six people from the indigenous community and natives of Oaxaca, Mexico, were arrested by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) security forces in the city of Terra Bella, in Tulare County, to process them for deportation.
He stressed that, unlike in past raids, the agents have other instructions, since according to a lawyer "there is a law in the federal immigration status that gives immigration authority to pick up people within 100 miles of the sea, and they can detain people without asking them for information or having an arrest warrant."
"The lawyer says that this is what is happening here, that people who live within 100 miles of the country, around the country, can be detained without any reason and asked for their immigration status," the activist said.
“This has never been done before. And immigration is what they are using right now to detain people.”
Among the six detainees is Pedro Cantú; “No, I have not been able to communicate with him yet, but there are six members of the family who were detained at a gas station in the city of Terra Bella,” Pérez-Ruíz clarified.
According to organizations, local media and residents via social media, Border Patrol was detected in Bakersfield, a city in Kern County, on Tuesday morning. The raids were reported to have begun and are continuing.
CALÓ News reported that ICE representative Alethea Smock told the agency via email that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was not part of the operation, but when asked why Border Patrol was in Kern County, which is not near the border, the agency responded that Border Patrol should be asked that question.
With information from Manuel Ortiz and Peter Schurmann.
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