Surging ICE raids shadow final weeks of California congressional race

Bakersfield, California – In a nondescript car park, a memorial with orange marigolds and prayer candles has been erected in honour of recently deceased labour organiser and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.

Huerta was a well-known figure in California’s Central Valley, where she helped found the United Farm Workers union (UFW) and win better wages and working conditions for migrant and Latino labourers, who were vital to the state’s huge agricultural sector in the 1960s and 1970s.

The term “si, se puede”, coined by Huerta and translating to “yes, it can be done”, has also been placed on the display of a local theatre in her honour.

If Huerta represents a tradition of social and economic justice and labour organising that continues to resonate, an uptick in immigration raids across the valley over the last month has underscored the degree to which insecurity, both economic and political, remains a stubborn reality for many of the region’s agricultural workers.

Since early October, federal immigration agents, often masked and in unmarked vehicles, have fanned out across the Central Valley as part of a 45-day effort titled “Operation Save California” by the Trump administration.

Those raids, part of the administration’s mass deportation campaign, have become a flashpoint in the race for California’s 22nd congressional district, one of several contests in the state that Democrats hope will help deliver them a majority in the United States House of Representatives in the midterm elections on November 3.

While Republican incumbent David Valadao has been a fixture of the Central Valley for years, winning six of his last seven races, progressive challenger Randy Villegas is seeking to capitalise on popular frustration over the rising cost of living, healthcare cuts and immigration raids.

In a small building down the road from the Huerta memorial in Bakersfield, one day before the election, a room full of volunteers chant her slogan, encouraged by labour leaders and Democratic representatives such as California Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, before they knock on doors.

“I’ve spoken to local business owners who have told me how their businesses are now struggling as a result of these ICE raids, and many of them have now pivoted to delivering things like groceries,” Villegas told Al Jazeera, noting that some residents are afraid of leaving their homes amid the increase in raids.

“It’s having an impact on people who just want to go to work, want to go to school,” he added.

‘Unlawfully targeted’

Immigration authorities say the raids have targeted criminals and deny that they are racially discriminatory.

“Allegations that DHS law enforcement engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” the Department of Homeland Security said in an email. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the US – NOT their skin colour, race, or ethnicity.”

But the administration’s depiction of targeted operations focused on people with serious criminal backgrounds is at odds with accounts from farmworkers, labour organisations, local officials, and advocacy groups, who describe aggressive methods and a dragnet approach.

“These are not criminals. These are hard-working, long-term members of our communities being unlawfully targeted simply for looking Latino and working class,” Teresa Romero, president of the UFW, whose members have campaigned for Villegas, said in a statement on October 10.

“We are seeing car windows being smashed and farm workers dragged from vehicles in the middle of the road while on their way to work.”

A woman who spoke with Al Jazeera over the phone on condition of anonymity said her husband, a farmworker in Fresno County, had been detained by immigration agents while returning home from work during the first week of October.

“I understand that if they [those arrested] are criminals or have done bad things, they have brought it on themselves,” the woman said of immigration arrests over a phone call. “But my husband has not done anything. The only thing he has done is work.”

She adds that her four children, all of whom are citizens born in the US, became anxious after the incident, and that some now begin to cry when they hear a knock at the door and fear that their mother will be taken away as well.

‘Word spreads’

Local officials say such stories have reverberated through their communities.

“When you have a small community like ours, and folks are actually detained, word spreads,” said Olivia Calderon, mayor of the city of Arvin.

“I had pastors ask me whether ICE takes a day off on Sunday because people don’t want to go to church,” she added.

Villegas has drawn a link between the raids and Valadao’s vote in favour of a bill that is set to transform ICE, often accused of excessive force and disregard for civil liberties in its operations, into the most well-funded law enforcement agency in the country.

Asked about the impact of the raids in a debate with Villegas in early October, Valadao responded by mirroring the government’s claims that many of those targeted have criminal backgrounds and that “it is what it is.”

As Republicans and Democrats jostle for control of the House, the race has also received national attention.

Prominent figures such as leftist Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson have visited in recent months to rally in support of their respective candidates.

Labour organisations, such as UFW, have also mobilised members to knock doors for Villegas.

But polls suggest a tight race between Valadao and Villegas, even after a partisan redistricting measure passed by California voters in 2025 resulted in a series of newly drawn maps, including parts of the 22nd district, meant to favour Democrats.

Valadao has proven himself to be a resilient candidate. His upbringing in the Central Valley, where his Portuguese parents settled and worked as dairy farmers, has helped him build close ties with ranchers, growers, and conservative voters who play an influential role in the region. While California in general is a bastion of support for the Democratic Party, rural areas are often favourable terrain for Republicans.

While Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump in California by nearly 20 points in 2024, Trump carried Kern County, where Bakersfield is located, by a similar margin.

Still, Villegas and his supporters are hoping that concerns over the rising cost of living, driven in part by the Trump administration’s decision to launch a war on Iran that has sent energy prices soaring, will help him dislodge the resilient Republican incumbent.

Priscilla Ortega, a 23-year-old in the city of Lamont, said she is “annoyed and very angry” about rising prices and the impact of immigration raids.

“It was really unnecessary,” she said of the war on Iran, adding that rising fuel costs have made her commute to her job as a warehouse worker in the region much more expensive.

“That could have gone to food for my household or bills that need to be paid,” she added. “People are sick of the prices increasing.”

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: aljazeera.com