In summary
“If this is the new normal, this is absolute economic devastation,” says one local economist.
Acres of grape fields sat unpicked in Kern County this week as word of Border Patrol raids circulated through Messenger chats and images of federal agents detaining laborers spread on local Facebook groups.
The Border Patrol conducted unannounced raids throughout Bakersfield on Tuesday, descending on businesses where day laborers and field workers gather. Agents in unmarked SUVs rounded up people in vans outside a Home Depot and gas station that serves a breakfast popular with field workers.
This appears to be the first large-scale Border Patrol raid in California since the election of Donald Trump, coming just a day after Congress certified the election on January 6, in the final days of Joe Biden’s presidency. The panic and confusion, for both immigrants and local businesses that rely on their labor, foreshadow what awaits communities across California if Trump follows through on his promise to conduct mass deportations.
“It was profiling, it was purely field workers,” said Sara Fuentes, store manager of the local gas station. Fuentes said that at 9 a.m., when the store typically gets a rush of workers on their way to pick oranges, two men in civilian clothes and unmarked Suburbans started detaining people outside the store. “They didn’t stop people with FedEx uniforms, they were stopping people who looked like they worked in the fields.” Fuentes says one customer pulled in just to pump gas and agents approached him and detained him.
Fuentes has lived in Bakersfield all her life and says she’s never seen anything like it. In one instance, she said a man and woman drove up to the store together, and the man went inside. Border Patrol detained the man as he walked out, Fuentes said, and then demanded the woman get out of the vehicle. When she refused, another agency parked his vehicle behind the woman, blocking her car. Fuentes said it wasn’t until the local Univision station showed up that Border Patrol agents backed up their car and allowed the woman to leave.
Fuentes says none of the regular farm workers showed up to buy breakfast on Wednesday morning. “No field workers at all,” she said.
Growers and agricultural leaders in California and across the nation have warned that Trump’s promised mass deportations will disrupt the nation’s food supply, leading to shortages and higher prices. In Kern County this week, just the word of the deportations inspired workers to stay away from the fields.
“People are freaked out, people are worried, people are planning on staying home the next couple of days,” said Antonio De Loera-Brust, director of communication for the United Farm Workers. De Loera-Brust said the Border Patrol detained at least one UFW member in Kern County as they “traveled between home and work.”
Videos shared in local Facebook groups and Instagram pages show Border Patrol agents pulling over vehicles along the 99 Highway on Tuesday and Wednesday in Bakersfield.
“They were stopping cars at random, asking people for papers. They were going to gas stations and Home Depot where day laborers gather,” said Antonio De Loera-Brust. “It’s provoking intense anxiety and a lot of fear in the community.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment. On social media, Gregory K. Bovino, the Border Patrol in El Centro, called the sweeps “Operation Return to Sender.”
“We are taking it to the bad people and bad things in Bakersfield,” the El Centro Border Patrol said in response to a comment on its Facebook page. “We are planning operations for other locals (sic) such as Fresno and especially Sacramento.”
It’s unclear how many people have been detained by Border Patrol or how long the operation would last.
“We’re in the middle of our citrus harvesting. This sent shockwaves through the entire community,” said Casey Creamer, president of the industry group California Citrus Mutual, on Thursday. “People aren’t going to work and kids aren’t going to school. Yesterday about 25% of the workforce, today 75% didn’t show up.”
He pushed back on the Border Patrol’s claims they’re targeting bad people. He said they appeared to be general sweeps of workers.
“If this is the new normal, this is absolute economic devastation,” said Richard S. Gearhart, an associate professor of economics at Cal State-Bakersfield.
In the short term, he predicted farms and diaries could make up the losses, but that homebuilders, restaurants and small businesses would be most hurt financially.
But he’s worried about the long-term.
“You are talking about a recession-level event if this is the new long-term norm,” he said.
Agriculture comprises about 10 percent of Kern County’s gross domestic product and undocumented workers may comprise half of the workforce, he said. And the Central Valley provides about a quarter of the United States’ food.
“So, you WILL see, in the long run, food inflation and food shortages,” he wrote in a text message.
He predicted immigrants, even ones with documents, would stop shopping, going to school and seeking health care.
“So, this could have some serious deleterious long run impacts beyond lost farm productivity. Losses in education and health would be catastrophic,” he said. “Basically, you know how Kern County complains about oil? This event would be analogous to shutting down oil production. Economic catastrophe.”
