ICE Arrested Dozens in the Central Valley This Week. Bay Area Groups Are Preparing in Case It Spreads

Immigrant rights groups around the Bay Area say they are on alert after a week of immigration arrests in the San Joaquin Valley, though as of Friday, Oct. 9, they had not seen a matching increase closer to home, KQED reported.

What happened in the Valley

Since Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been stopping farmworkers on their way to work and people running errands across Fresno and Madera counties. Local officials and advocacy groups told The Fresno Bee that more than 70 people were arrested in the Fresno area this week, and they believe the true number is higher. Watch groups said agents have been patrolling near fields, gas stations and businesses popular with Latino residents rather than serving warrants on specific people.

In Kerman, Mayor Maria Pacheco told KQED that eight residents were detained between Wednesday and Thursday, including four men stopped while buying pan dulce and coffee on the way to work. One Kerman farmworker, Prudencio Rivera Rios, told ABC30 that agents followed him home from work on Thursday, took him to the ICE office in downtown Fresno and released him hours later; he says he has permission to be in the country.

The Department of Homeland Security told KQED it does not discuss operations "for operational security and the safety of our officers." Rep. Tom McClintock, a Republican whose district includes part of the region, told ABC30 that ICE is doing "the job by law they're required to do."

How the Bay Area is getting ready

"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. She said the group could not verify any specific plans, but lawyers are preparing and outreach workers are handing out an emergency planning checklist so families know what to do if a relative is detained.

In San Francisco, Milli Atkinson of the Bar Association's Immigrant Legal Defense Program said the city had seen no rise in arrests so far, only "anxiety from the community."

East Bay Rep. Lateefah Simon said in a statement that local leaders will "stand by our communities," and that her office offers know-your-rights resources and help with immigration casework. The arrests come less than a month before the Nov. 3 midterm election.