ICE Surge Empties Central Valley Fields, Schools, Streets

Schools are emptier. Fields are thinner. Construction sites have, in one local official’s words, “essentially come to a halt.” A surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that began last week across California’s Central Valley has disrupted farm towns, set off confrontations and left families scrambling to find detained relatives.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias described what he’s seeing on the ground. “We’re seeing across-the-board reduction of school attendance, substantial reduction in employees showing up to farm operations, packing sheds and in the fields,” Arias said. “Construction has essentially come to a halt. We’re seeing very few people out in the streets.” Student protests followed on Friday. In Madera, organizers postponed the third annual Oaxacan Guelaguetza festival amid growing fears, the group said on Facebook.

Who Is Affected

Farmworkers say they’re bearing the brunt. Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns and national vice president of United Farm Workers, said workers began reporting immigration patrols on Oct. 6. She said it was unclear how many people had been detained, and that similar arrests were occurring in the Coachella Valley and Ventura County. In Ventura County, a preliminary injunction restricts civil arrests without a warrant. Authorities are investigating multiple vehicle accidents in Oxnard and Simi Valley involving ICE agents. “It’s total lawlessness,” Strater said.

Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, condemned what she called a “brutal ICE surge.” In a written statement, she said: “Warrantless stops and roving patrols by masked federal agents across California, especially the Central Valley have been terrorizing farm workers ... and the chaos is escalating. These are not criminals. These are hard-working, long term members of our communities being unlawfully targeted simply for looking Latino and working class.”

One farmworker, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said ICE officers pulled him over last Tuesday on his way to work as he drove with three others. The officers didn’t know his name, he said. After he declined to answer questions about where he was born and when he crossed the border, they let him go. The California Farm Bureau reaffirmed its support for agricultural workers in a written statement, noting that California is home to one-third of the nation’s agricultural workforce.

A review of reported arrests found that some detained people had recent arrests, while others appeared to have no criminal record. In Fresno, the children of Noelia Bautista and Cipriano Lopez started a GoFundMe after their parents were detained. They contend their parents were racially profiled.

Confrontations on the Ground

In Kerman, Mayor Maria Pacheco confronted ICE agents on Thursday as they detained people. “You’re not welcome in my city,” she told an agent in a video posted on Facebook. “You’ve taken enough people yesterday. We don’t want you here.”

The next day, a 72-year-old Fresno resident shot and wounded an ICE agent who police said had fallen asleep on the resident’s daughter’s front lawn, appeared “intoxicated and agitated,” and allegedly assaulted the resident. Prosecutors charged the agent with assault, elder abuse and other crimes.

Prudencio Rivera, 31, was driving home from a night shift at a poultry farm when he noticed a truck with Texas plates following him. After a couple of miles, its emergency lights came on, and he pulled over in Kerman. He began livestreaming on Facebook. Through his closed driver’s window, he said in Spanish, “I have my papers in order. Everything’s good.” Rivera told The Times he entered the United States in 2023 through an asylum process, has a work permit and checks in with ICE once a month.

The livestream showed an officer saying Rivera’s work permit didn’t give him permission to live in the country, then warning, “We’re going to break the window.” The video captured the sound of glass shattering. DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment about what prompted the stop. Rivera said agents took him to the ICE office in Fresno, then released him after checking his documents and record. “When they told me they were going to let me go, I was relieved,” he said. “Imagine, thinking they’re never going to let you leave.”

Official Response

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a written statement that increased reports of federal immigration agents across the state resulted from President Trump using “fear and panic as a weapon — putting families at risk, undermining our economy, and terrorizing communities.”

An unidentified Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Times that “for operational security and the safety of our officers, ICE will not disclose or discuss law enforcement operations,” adding: “Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country including in California.” On the Bautista and Lopez case, the spokesperson confirmed ICE arrested the couple last week, saying they had “illegally entered the U.S. at unknown times and places.” The spokesperson said: “All of their claims will be heard by immigration judges and they will receive due process. This administration will not ignore the rule of law.” The spokesperson called allegations of racial profiling “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” and said “what makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S. — NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity.”

Gloria Hernandez, a volunteer with the Valley Watch Network, a rapid response group that tracks ICE arrests and helps families of detained people, said she noticed increased activity at ICE’s downtown Fresno office in the days before the reported surge. She saw 17 black vehicles and what she described as “a bunch of new ICE people.” “They’re hitting the small towns, the rural areas, the farmworkers,” she said. “This surge is really horrible.”

Why This Matters:

The Central Valley helps feed the country, and California is home to one-third of the nation’s agricultural workforce, according to the California Farm Bureau. When workers stay home, the effects reach packing sheds, construction sites, classrooms and Main Street businesses, as Arias described. The accounts in this story also raise hard questions about how enforcement is carried out: warrantless stops, a shattered car window, detentions of people who appear to have no criminal record, and a work-permit holder held until his papers were checked. DHS says everyone detained will receive due process, and it denies racial profiling. Families, farmworker advocates and local officials say the fear is already shaping daily life. Whether courts, state leaders and federal agencies can reconcile enforcement with constitutional protections will determine whether that fear lifts or spreads.