Earlier this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly started a 45-day California operation. The United Farm Workers Foundation announced in a press release that, after raids in Fresno last week, they have not been able to see some people who were detained because ICE states they are not in the system.
“Attorneys have been in touch with several families who inform that their family member is being held in detention. However, according to our attorneys, when they appear in person to request access, ICE informs them that the detained individuals do not show up in its system. UFW Foundation attorneys believe this may be due to ICE not updating its systems until individuals sign voluntary departures,” states the release.
According to Ambar Tovar, director of legal services and immigration attorney for the UFW Foundation, even when they can schedule a consultation, it gets canceled, and there is confusion about where community members are. She added that the high number of people ICE is taking is compounding the issue because, while they’ve always had to wait for processing time and face other accessibility issues, like people being transferred, they were usually processed within a day or two.
“Those folks where we did schedule a consultation, those consultations were canceled like the morning of, and then they were showing as being en route to another state like Texas, for example,” said Tovar. “And what we are hearing from family members when they are getting calls from their loved ones, they are confirming that, in fact, they are at a local detention facility. They are wanting to speak with us. So it’s very concerning that people are signing voluntary departure documents and foregoing possible immigration relief and not being able to consult with an attorney or legal counsel before making such life-changing decisions.”
Tovar stated that the UFW Foundation is aware of the recent ICE incidents in Kern County, has the names of those who were targeted, and is providing legal consultation. She advised the community to have a preparedness plan with their families in place.
“I can’t stress how important that is. Making sure that they have compiled a list of important documents and that they make these available to a trusted family member, a trusted contact that knows how to access those documents should that person be detained,” said Tovar.
She also stated that while is important to know your rights when it comes to ICE and assert them when needed, she is hearing that rights are still violated.
“I think that one of the most important things right now to keep in mind is, yes, we want people to make sure that they know how to assert their rights should they come in contact with ICE. But as somebody in detention told me, ICE is going to violate my rights. So then what do I do?” explained Tovar before giving advice. “At this point, if somebody is in detention, if somebody does get arrested and detained…One is making sure that they communicate their A number to their family member, that in detention, they assert their right to want to speak to an attorney if they have one. If they don’t have one, that they can connect with the UFW Foundation legal team and at minimum, we will try to meet with them and offer them a legal consultation.”
Tovar added that if a family member is detained, they advise alerting a first line of defense like the Rapid Response Network of Kern (RRN) becasue they will notify legal responders.
When it comes to sharing about ICE sightings, Tovar said it is crucial that people do not share false ICE sightings because it can add to the fear in the community, and spoke to what they’ve observed ICE doing and wearing to tell if it is ICE or not.
“Yes, usually ICE will be, from what we have seen and especially in these rural farm working communities, and the lessons learned from the Fresno raids is that ICE is operating very early in the morning and they’re operating in the afternoon when farm workers are leaving work, for folks to stay vigilant around those times,” said Tovar. “But also that based on what we have seen, we’ve seen ICE officers who are dressed in plain clothes wearing a vest that either says POLICE ICE, or just police. Some of them have continued to use a mask to cover their faces. And they are usually in unmarked vehicles that look like a regular vehicle, just like anybody driving on the street. So it’s important to make that distinction.”
For community members who want to be supportive of those who may be living in fear, Tovar advised getting involved in the RRN or other organizations that offer supportive services.
“They are always looking for volunteers to help patrol our communities, to alert of ICE sightings; they have trainings available for people that don’t know necessarily how to do this, for community members to also get involved in providing support for people who are getting released from detention. KWESI is a great organization that also needs funds and monetary resources to continue to support impacted individuals inside and outside of detention upon release. There’s just many ways to get involved, and we are also one of those organizations that people can reach out to if they’re looking to support the community right now.”
On social media, people have stated they believe the 45-day operation in California is a part of a scare tactic to keep people from going to the polls for the midterm elections. While Tovar could not speak directly about the election, she stated that it is important for people to vote.
“During these times when our communities are under attack, our vote is more important than ever,” said Tovar.
