An anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest drew a crowd across the street from the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield on Sunday. Cars passed by, some honking in support, as people held signs, waved flags, and stood shoulder to shoulder.

For many, the location mattered. It is one of three ICE detention centers in Kern County, but the only one located within Bakersfield city limits. The facility has been operating since 2015 and is used to hold people in immigration custody while they await court proceedings or transfer.

Attendees said they came out to oppose ICE enforcement practices, to stand up for people in detention centers, and to raise awareness about the facility’s presence in the city. 

Unfortunately, after the protest ended, a family member of a detainee approached the remaining protesters to explain that the facility had briefly locked down visitation because staff had learned the protest was taking place. 

She said she had driven all the way from San Francisco to visit her husband, only to be told she could not enter.

“They said they weren’t going to allow visitors because of the protest,” Maria Beach, one of the protesters who stayed late and spoke with the family. “It was the first time I’d ever seen the barricades closed. It was a very small, peaceful protest, and no one posed a threat.”

Beach said the family member had been informed by her husband inside the facility to avoid coming, but decided to travel anyway. 

Federico Carrizales, one of the attendees during the protest, said he came out to protest because he strongly opposes ICE and its enforcement practices

“I didn’t even know there was an ICE center here, and I live down the street,” he said. “It feels good to be here and to know there are other people in Bakersfield who are against this.”

Carrizales said seeing support from passing drivers made the protest feel even more meaningful.

“In Kern County, you don’t always see this,” he said. “So when people honk or wave, it shows that more people are fed up.”

Federico Carrizales II (right) protests outside the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield on Sunday. 

The protest brought together people from different parts of Kern County, some attending their first demonstration, others returning to a familiar spot. Several said they wanted those inside the facility to know they were not forgotten.

“We’re here to tell the people inside that we see them and we haven’t forgotten them,” said former Assemblywoman Nicole M. Parra. 

Parra said she has participated in training with the Rapid Response Network of Kern County, where she has been learning what families can legally do to protect themselves and how to assert their constitutional rights during encounters with law enforcement.

“A lot of people are afraid,” Parra said. “A lot of people don’t have the privilege to be out here.”

She said protesting is one way she can use her voice to support her family and the broader community, especially those who may be too scared to show up for themselves.

“I’ll keep coming out as long as it takes,” Parra said.

Nicole M. Parra with her sign at an anti-ICE protest in Bakersfield on Sunday. 

Others said they were thinking about the future. Jade, who traveled from the Kern River Valley and declined to share her last name, said the protest was also about raising awareness that the ICE facility exists in the middle of Bakersfield.

“It’s important people know this is here,” Jade said. “We need to build community now and show that we don’t have to live in fear.”

Maria Beach, a longtime protester, said protesting outside the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center feels especially important because of how close demonstrators are to the people being held inside.

“This is my favorite place to protest because they’re literally in there,” Beach said. 

She said that she has spoken with visitors who shared the conditions inside the facility, which has stayed with her. 

“They might not be able to see us, but they can hear us, and I want them to know they’re not alone,” Beach said. 

Beach said she once spoke with a law enforcement officer who told her detainees cannot look out the windows. Still, she believes showing up matters.

“At least they know people are standing outside for them,” she said. “That gives me hope.”

Beach, a member of the Bakersfield Democratic Women of Kern and a local union member who works with the elderly through IHSS, said she attends protests regularly and made a point to be there even on Super Bowl Sunday.

“I know people had plans,” she said. “So the fact that folks still came out says a lot.”

Darlene Canchola, a U.S. Air Force veteran, protests outside the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield on Sunday. 

Darlene Canchola, a military veteran, said coming to the protest was about standing up for values she was taught her entire life.

“All my life, I was told the Constitution was solid,” Canchola said. “Now it feels like it’s being ignored.”

Her late husband was from Mexico, and she said many of his friends have been deported or detained despite being law-abiding residents.

“They weren’t criminals,” she said. “They had kids at home. Sometimes a 15-year-old is left to take care of everything after a parent is taken away.”

Canchola said seeing protests in other states inspired her to act locally.

“If I don’t stand up, nobody’s going to have a chance,” she said. “I didn’t serve this country for a dictatorship.”

Photo gallery: Protesters gather outside the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield on Sunday.