When President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office on Monday, the U.S. Border Patrol is poised to play a central role in Trump's promised immigration crackdown. Californians on Thursday got a preview of the tensions that could ensue as undocumented immigrants are rounded up in places that rely on their labor.
On the one hand, the Border Patrol chief last week posted a video on social media showcasing a sweep in California's Central Valley. The effort, dubbed “Operation Return to Sender,” included dozens of arrests. “They think I'm in the shadows, but I'm the shadow,” a voice echoing the popular Batman movie whispers during the video.
Meanwhile, United Farm Workers officials held a press conference to explain the fear the operation had caused in immigrant communities. They suggested the arrests signaled that “rogue” law enforcement officials inspired by Trump's plans might take matters into their own hands.
“This is part of a new political climate in which people in some government agencies feel emboldened,” said Antonio de Loera Wurst, a spokesperson for the trade union. .
The Biden administration and Trump's transition team did not respond to messages seeking comment. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to questions about the effort, saying the agency is conducting “forced arrests of individuals involved in smuggling across our region of operations as part of our efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations.” He made a big statement that he had gone.
Details of the sweep came primarily from the social media channels of Southern California Border Patrol Chief Gregory K. Bovino. In a series of posts, he said the three-day operation was an “overwhelming success” and resulted in the arrest of 78 people, all of whom were in the country illegally, some with “serious criminal records.”
United Farm Workers and some farmers in the area suggested the sweep would be more widespread.
Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League, which represents more than 500 growers and packers in the state, said, “Officials are asking people in parking lots to provide documentation and whether they are legally in the country.'' I was asking,” he said. “Then they were taking them away in a van.”
What is clear is that about 60 operatives in marked and unmarked cars drove hundreds of miles from their headquarters near the border in Imperial, Calif., in a vast agricultural region dependent on immigrant labor. It was concentrated in and around Bakersfield. Investigators staked out hardware stores, gas stations and other locations frequented by illegal immigrants.
Bovino, who has been with the agency for nearly 30 years and holds a non-political role in the El Centro division, said in a post that the effort has resulted in the deaths of “two child sex offenders” and other “aggravated felons,” including a Chinese national. Said to have been created. Suspected of defrauding a dementia patient in the United States of the equivalent of $70,000.
He called the sweep a “targeted operation” and said investigators “go where the threat is.” In addition to the arrests, investigators also seized marijuana and methamphetamine, he said.
On January 10, when a social media commenter pointed out that Bovino would be “very busy” in the 10 days leading up to Trump's inauguration, Bovino responded: they. ”
In another post, he said illegal immigrants just need to get documentation. We recommend that you return to your home country, obtain the proper documentation, and do it the right way. If not, we will arrest you. ”
Trump has vowed to carry out large-scale deportations. Since his election, he has continued to use social media to share his views on border issues, writing in late November that “thousands of people have flown into Mexico and Canada, and the crime and drug epidemic has “It has reached a level never seen before.”
Illegal immigration has plummeted in recent months due to new asylum restrictions introduced by the Biden administration and increased enforcement on migration routes such as Mexico. About 46,000 people illegally crossed the border in November, the lowest number under the Biden administration and fewer than at the end of Trump's 2020 term.
Thomas D. Homan, a former senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official appointed by Trump as “border czar,” said enforcement under the new administration would target immigrants with outstanding deportation orders and criminal records. , stated that the matter remains unresolved. The possibility that others will be arrested during the arrest.
Bakersfield straddles State Route 99. State Route 99 is a busy highway filled with trucks transporting produce from the Central Valley, California's agricultural capital. However, it is also an important conduit for illegal drug smuggling.
Gunfights are a feature of life there as gangs vie for control of lucrative drug sales. Working-class neighborhoods are accustomed to law enforcement conducting operations to track down and arrest people involved in drug trafficking.
Chris Magnus, who served as Customs and Border Protection commissioner early in the Biden administration, said illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes should be arrested.
“However, mass arrests of day laborers and field workers through profiling do not improve public safety and waste law enforcement resources,” Magnus said. “These roundups have created widespread distrust of law enforcement and deterred many community members from reporting crimes as victims or witnesses.”
In fact, the arrests of random people who were questioned about their immigration status caused panic around Bakersfield and Kern County.
According to Cunha of the Nisei Farmers' Union, 30 to 40 percent of the workforce did not report to work the day after the attack.
Pete Belluomini, a citrus farmer near Bakersfield, said about two-thirds of his pickers didn't show up for two or three days. “This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but in this political climate, it was a bigger splash,” he said.
It is an open secret that most of the people who harvest America's food are illegal immigrants, primarily from Mexico and Central America, many of whom have lived in the United States for decades. Often the parents of American-born children, they have lived under a cloud of deportation for years.
Alejandra, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, and her partner Pedro were just picking lemons on the morning of their first day of cleaning, January 7, when their boss warned them:“La Migra” — slang for Border Patrol — were in the area.
She said she soon learned that one of her colleagues had been arrested, and most of them decided to remain at the scene until dark. The couple returned to Bakersfield just before sunset to pick up their 5-year-old son from daycare.
“Our biggest fear as parents is what will happen to our children if we are deported,” said Alejandra, 38, who declined to give her partner's last name out of fear for her safety. spoke. During the week of clean-up work, workers were so anxious that “the fields were almost empty,” she said.
To feel more empowered, Alejandra said she attended three information sessions held by community advocates and learned about her rights.
“I'm nervous and scared,” she said. “We don’t know what President Trump has in store for us.”
