Immigration Raids Continue in the Central Valley

[Note: Since this story went to print, in the May edition of the Undercurrent, immigration raids have also happened in the Central Valley cities of Plainview, Firebaugh, and Kerman.]

ICE officials chose Madera, CA for their most recent visit to the Central Valley

On April 3, 2007, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials carried out “targeted enforcement” operations in Madera, arresting an estimated 25 undocumented immigrants. It is not known at this point how many of the individuals arrested were actually being sought after by ICE officials. ICE spokespeople are quick to point out that these are not “random” raids, but enforcement actions where specific individuals are targeted. However, the very same day, the Associated Press reported that more than one-third (37%) of the 18,000 individuals arrested in the past year as part of the federal government’s “Operation Return to Sender” have been so-called “collateral arrests”.

As we have seen in the aftermath of other local ICE raids, reliable information on the details of the raids is difficult to encounter, as rumors circulate widely amongst community members. As was the case in the Mendota raids, rumors spread that the local health clinic in Madera was a target of the raids. While ultimately untrue in both cases, the rumors functioned to keep community members from accessing health care services.

The Madera raids were concentrated in the city’s Oaxaqueño community, who make up a large number of recent immigrants from Mexico, and are largely indigenous. Eduardo Stanley, of Spanish-language weekly El Sol, reported that some ICE officials (mis)identified themselves as parole agents when they knocked on Madera residents’ doors early in the morning of April 3. Sources have reported that more raids have taken place in Madera since April 3, though at present this is unconfirmed.

Organizations and individuals in the valley have come together to form a Community Task Force under the Central California Coalition for Immigrants Rights.

Myrna Martinez Nateras, director of the Pan-Valley Institute, (a program of the American Friends Service Committee) stated that the main role of the Institute has been to support the community members who are organizing around this issue. Martinez Nateras and other members of the Coalition have essentially formed what could be called immigration raid response teams that go into communities where raids have occurred and visit the affected families. In addition, Coalition members have taken it upon themselves to provide information to the immigrant community on their rights and what to do in case of future raids, often going door to door or organizing house gatherings to get word out. Ms. Martinez Nateras stated that people “need to know they have the right not to open the door” when ICE officials show up, as well as that they have the right to remain silent and wait for an attorney if they are detained. “The raids came so all of a sudden”, she stated, and most of the organizations working on this issue have few resources, so groups came together in order to be able to be of more assistance. Professors and students from CSU Fresno have also become involved with the Coalition. A significant number of those organizing around the raids have been young people. High school and college students living in and around the Madera area were quick to send out messages on Myspace, and text message alerts via cell phone about the raids.

The Pan-Valley Institute has also been trying to educate the community at large on the consequences of these raids. Besides the fear generated in the community, the coalition has been drawing attention to the fact that some immigration lawyers have abused the situation by charging people up to $9,000 to search for the whereabouts of family members. Ms. Martinez Nateras stated that the job of educating people on the issues is complex because of the case presented by the media, who make the case that it’s only people with criminal records (or deportation orders) that are being detained, when in reality so many of those arrested in the course of the raids have been “collateral arrests”.

The Coalition is encouraging people to send letters to legislators asking them to support a moratorium on raids until a comprehensive immigration reform bill is passed by Congress, and to join up with the Community Task Force supporting the families affected by the raids. For more info on the Task Force, call (559) 222-7678.