written by Matt Espinoza Watson

At approximately 4:30 in the morning on Thursday, February 8, Mendota resident Ramon Fernandez was awakened by a knock at the door of the residence he shares with his wife, children, and brother-in-law. Upon opening his door, several agents from Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE; formerly the INS) burst in to his apartment, demanded to know who was inside, and proceeded to open the doors to the bedrooms where his wife & kids were sleeping. After waking his children and corralling the family into the living room, the Federal agents asked for proof of citizenship, which the family did not have. Mr. Fernandez informed the agents that although he was undocumented, he was in the process of rectifying his legal status in this country. After a call to headquarters, agents verified his story, apologized for the mistake, and told him and his family to go back to sleep.

Mendota is a small town about 40 miles west of Fresno, with a local economy heavily dependent on agriculture. The population of Mendota is close to 95% Latino, which once meant overwhelmingly Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families. In recent years, the demographics have shifted, and many immigrants from El Salvador and other parts of Central America have taken up residence in the small town. Many of these recent immigrants are undocumented.

According to Virginia Kice, spokesperson for ICE, there have been no “raids” in Mendota or elsewhere in Northern California, but rather, Fugitive Operations teams in action aimed at tracking down individuals she termed “immigration fugitives”. These are people who have been to court to try and deal with their legal status, and have ignored orders for removal (deportation orders). .Ms. Kice also added that the operations being carried out were not “random” searches, but rather, “lead-driven” operations aimed at specific targets. Talking to Mr. Fernandez and other community members in Mendota, however, one gets quite a different picture of the situation.

In a town where every corner market, taco truck, or bar usually has a sizeable crowd of people hanging out in front, Mendota seemed like a ghost town the week after the ICE intrusion. At the same time, the town was abuzz with rumors and accounts of children getting snatched up by ICE officials while at school, families being torn apart, and other such horror stories. Employees at the Fastrip convenience store reported that ICE officials drove up and began harassing people outside the store for documentation. School officials reported an increase in parents calling the school concerned about coming out of their houses to pick up their children. The local health clinic reported many cancelled appointments, and local businesses, such as the Westside Market owned and operated by city councilmember Joseph Riofrio, also saw a decrease in activity.

Longtime Mendota residents reported not having seen anything like this for 20 years or more, recalling stories of not having their own papers in order, and running from the pale green vans stationed out in the fields. To many of the older generation, it was the first time in many years that they were reminded of a time when a sense of fear pervaded their daily lives.

While very little could be ascertained in terms of statistics from talking with Mendota residents, what is certain is the climate of fear that ICE left in its wake. Councilmember Riofrio spoke to this point, relating that even legal residents and citizens had started carrying around their papers to prove their legal residency, just in case. “It’s not good; people are scared to come out of their houses.” Everyone in town seemed to agree that close to 200 people were deported, and while this number is difficult to verify, it has become the unofficial headcount in Mendota.

The raids in Mendota are a merely a small part of the picture, as over 14,000 immigrants have been rounded up so far as part of the Federal Government’s “Operation Return to Sender”, a program that started in May of last year. Several hundred immigrants were arrested in Los Angeles in January, and ICE agents have also done massive job-site sweeps at meat packing plants and other job sites throughout the Midwest. Virgina Kice stated that while she could not give statistics specifically about Mendota, that 838 arrests have been made this year in Northern California, and that 500 of those arrests were “immigration fugitives”. When asked about the other 338 arrests, Ms. Kice replied that those numbers reflected other undocumented immigrants who were “encountered in the process” of said Fugitive Operations.

What this boils down to is that if your immigration status is in question, you should indeed be worried if ICE vans show up in your neighborhood. Basically, ICE has been going out looking for specific individuals, but when they have the wrong address, or simply find other undocumented immigrants, they will not hesitate to arrest & process them as well. This seems to lead us down a slippery slope, where “lead-driven investigations” can also turn into random sweeps and harassment of individuals who might ‘fit the profile’ of an illegal immigrant. Community leaders in other parts of the state, such as LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and members of the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors, have spoken out condemning what they characterize as “raids”.

We’ll keep you updated on any local reaction.