{"id":70034,"date":"2025-01-21T14:04:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T22:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=70034"},"modified":"2025-01-21T14:04:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T22:04:38","slug":"after-raids-fear-paralyzes-tiny-town-in-californias-tulare-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=70034","title":{"rendered":"After Raids, Fear Paralyzes Tiny Town in California\u2019s Tulare County"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Peter Schurmann<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Residents in Poplar, a unincorporated community in Tulare County, say the raids have driven the town to a standstill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mari P\u00e9rez Ru\u00edz of Community Valley Empowerment Alliance discusses the recent raids with a community of indigenous farmworkers in Tulare County. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n

POPLAR, Ca. \u2013 In the early 1970s, this unincorporated town in California\u2019s agricultural heartland was designated by county officials as having \u201cno authentic future<\/a>.\u201d That designation\u2014entailing dramatic cuts to basic services\u2014remained until as recently as 2023.<\/p>\n

Now, following a series of raids on immigrants that began on Jan. 7 in neighboring Kern County, residents here say the future does indeed look bleak.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are scared. They don\u2019t want to come out. We\u2019re all scared,\u201d says Gregorio, a resident of Poplar for the past seven years and the owner of a local business that caters to the community\u2019s farmworker population. (We are not using Gregorio\u2019s last name to protect his identity.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re undocumented, it\u2019s not safe to walk the streets,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd this is just the start. It\u2019s going to get worse over the next four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration as President just days away, the raids\u2014dubbed \u201cReturn to Sender\u201d by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)\u2014are viewed here as a dress rehearsal for his promised mass deportation campaign of unauthorized immigrants.<\/p>\n

CBP Agent Gregory Bovino, who led the raids, stated in a social media post that CBP officers maintained the right to make arrests of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally without regard to due process. He promised \u201cmore to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here in the\u00a0#PremierSector<\/a>\u00a0we go the extra mile\u2014or 500 of them\u2014to protect our nation and communities from bad people and bad things. Two child rapists were caught the first day with more to come.#KernCounty<\/a>\u00a0#LongArmOfTheLaw<\/a>\u00a0#USBP<\/a>\u00a0#BorderPatrol<\/a>\u00a0#NewYearNewArrest<\/a>\u00a0#Bakersfield<\/a>\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/n7CJ4DyPZM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 USBP Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino (@USBPChiefELC)\u00a0January 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

CBP reports that some 78 arrests were made over the course of the three-day operation and included individuals with outstanding warrants for crimes ranging from sexual assault of minors to illegal drug and firearm possession, as well as DUIs and other lesser offenses.<\/p>\n

CBP says the raids were confined to Kern County. But several Poplar residents say they witnessed CBP agents patrolling local gathering spaces in and around the town. Several individuals who asked not to be identified described agents apprehending one individual on private land.<\/p>\n

Requests for comment from CBP to confirm the statements went unanswered by the time of publication. A spokesperson for the Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s office said they were unaware of any operations or detentions within the county.<\/p>\n

CBP spokesperson David Kim initially told news media that Operation Return to Sender was targeted to specific individuals and that it was not a widespread roundup. He acknowledged, however, that individuals not previously identified for apprehension due to past criminal convictions were also detained.<\/p>\n

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