Immigrant legal groups in the Bay Area say they are preparing for a possible increase in federal immigration enforcement after a wave of arrests this week in the San Joaquin Valley, KQED reports. As of Friday, local rapid response networks said they had not yet seen more ICE activity here.

"We are definitely on the alert and preparing in case of increased ICE activity or large-scale raids in our region," Lourdes Martinez, co-director of the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership, told KQED, adding that the group had not been able to verify any specifics. Lawyers are getting ready for possible large-scale actions, and outreach workers are circulating an "Emergency Planning Checklist for Families" so households can plan for what happens if a relative is detained.

In San Francisco, Milli Atkinson, who directs the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the San Francisco Bar Association, said the city is watching events in the Central Valley but has not seen more arrests, only "anxiety from the community."

What happened in the Valley

Local officials and advocates told The Fresno Bee that ICE has arrested more than 70 people in the Fresno area since the surge began earlier this week, and that the real number is likely higher. Watch groups say agents have run roving patrols near farm fields, gas stations and businesses popular with Latino residents rather than serving targeted warrants, with some workers stopped around 5 a.m. on their way to work. A rapid response network in Kern County said more than 60 people were detained Tuesday alone across the Fresno-Madera area and parts of the Central Coast.

In Kerman, Mayor Maria Pacheco said eight residents were detained between Wednesday and Thursday. Security video from outside a local bakery showed masked agents detaining people from a van, and Pacheco said one man taken there was a legal resident who was later released. A Kerman farmworker, Prudencio Rivera Rios, told ABC30 he was stopped driving home from work and held for hours at ICE's downtown Fresno office before being released.

Competing views

The Department of Homeland Security told KQED that ICE will not discuss its operations for security reasons. Rep. Tom McClintock, a Republican, told ABC30 that ICE has been ramping up for some time and is doing the job the law requires. East Bay Rep. Lateefah Simon said in a statement that local leaders will remain opposed to the administration's enforcement actions, and that her office offers immigration casework help.

Residents who need help can contact their county's rapid response hotline or their congressional office for casework assistance.