On January 7th, 60 agents from United States Customs & Border Protection descended on Bakersfield. As the largest city in Kern County, it's part of California's vast agricultural corridor where it's surrounded by farms that grow grapes, citrus, almonds, onions, garlic, lettuce, potatoes, and pretty much everything else.
These raids were part of a three-day operation known as "Return To Sender." Reporting on the situation for CalMatters, journalist Sergio Olmos says agents in unmarked vehicles descended on Home Depot and agricultural fields in the Bakersfield area.
Sara Fuentes, who works at a local gas station, witnessed two men in civilian clothes rounding up people. Then, a marked Border Protection truck arrived to drive away the detainees.
Many of her regular customers are field workers. The following day, most of them didn't show up at her business. Although these raids didn't involve ICA aka U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "The fear just permeated in Kern County," says Olmos. "You could see it in social media, Facebook posts. People were talking about it with real anxiety."
Border Protection said this was a targeted operation against criminals. California Citrus Mutual, an advocacy group for citrus growers, also made the same claim until 70% of their employees didn't show up to work on Thursday of that week.