Farm workers under threat: Raid against migrants in California extends fear of Trump era
At least 78 people were detained in a surprise operation in early January. The country’s largest agricultural union claims that detainees included legal residents, and that at least 50 have already been deported to Mexico
Last week, the U.S. Border Patrol carried out a series of surprise arrests and deportations in Bakersfield, California. According to the Customs and Border Protection Office, the operation between January 6 and 8 in this agricultural city left a balance of 78 people detained representing seven different nationalities. But the largest union of agricultural workers in the country suspects that the real number of people affected may be higher than officially reported. The United Farm Workers (UFW) organization believes that the police operation, in which dozens of agents participated on land and by air, was intended to intimidate Latino workers. In fact, the UFW claims that among those detained there were even U.S. citizens and legal residents, as they announced this Thursday in a press conference. They also announced that at least 50 of detainees have been deported to Mexico.
The raids come just before President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to take office on Monday. The promise of mass deportations of immigrants was one of the strong points of the Republican’s campaign. This operation in a city whose population is predominantly Latino raises alarms about what may come in the near future.
Information obtained by the UFW through various sources suggests that the number of detainees is higher. “We received a report from a rancher who estimates that at least 30 of his workers were detained,” Ambar Tovar, director of legal services for the UFW Foundation, said during the press conference. “An individual also said that he was detained in a van with at least 36 people during the first day of the operation,” she added.
For Tovar, what happened “was a scare tactic to terrorize farm workers and the immigrant community on their way to and from work.” UFW leaders explained that this operation, called Return to Sender, was the first of this magnitude carried out by the Border Patrol in the area: “We counted more than 50 agents mobilized, in addition to patrol cars, vans and helicopters.”
“Most of those arrested were farm workers. In smaller numbers, we also saw construction workers, yard workers, and others without permanent jobs,” said Areli Arteaga, the union’s director of Policy and Legislation. The information they have is that around 50 people have already been sent to Mexico. “We are certain because we received it from a very reliable source. What we know and suspect is that the majority probably signed their voluntary departure,” she said.
The UFW is in touch with some of the detained individuals who were later released, to investigate whether their rights were violated during the process. “Despite Border Patrol’s demonstrably false claim that this raid targeted criminals, we believe it went far beyond that. We are heartbroken to share that two UFW members were detained and are now in Mexico. Both members had lived and worked in the United States for over 15 years. One leaves behind two children under the age of 10, and the other leaves behind four children between the ages of four and 10.”
Antonio De Loera-Brust, UFW communications director, said that among those initially arrested “were citizens and legal residents of Hispanic origin, which indicates that to a certain extent the arrests were based on their physical appearance.” He added that, at this time, the community feels scared: “There is a feeling of anxiety about the possibility of being separated from their families. But at the same time, we must continue working. While they are feeding this country, the farm workers feel under threat.”
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