Farm workers group sues Border Patrol over Central California immigration raids. What we know
United Farm Workers and the American Civil Liberties Union of California are suing the federal government over the U.S. Border Patrol’s January deportation raids in Kern County that led to 78 arrests.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Fresno federal court names five Kern County residents — Oscar Morales Cisneros, Wilder Munguia Esquivel, Yolanda Aguilera Martinez, Juan Vargas Mendez and Maria Guadalupe Hernandez Espinosa — as plaintiffs.
The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol calls the federal raids that happened in predominantly Latino areas in the Valley unlawful and a violation of the U.S Constitution and federal law.
“They stopped us because we look Latino or like farm workers, because of the color of our skin. It was unfair,” said plaintiff Hernandez Espinoza in a news release. “I hope our rights are protected so that all workers can work and live in peace.”
In a previous interview with The Fresno Bee about the raids in January, UFW Foundation directing attorney Sofia Corona told The Bee in January that the Kern County raids targeted farm workers.
Corona said agents appeared to be racially profiling people who looked undocumented, asking them for documentation and targeting drivers on their way to work “on a highway that farm workers routinely use to go to work.”
The lawsuit says federal agents stopped, detained, and arrested people of color who appeared to be farm workers or day laborers, regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances, and transported them to the El Centro Border Patrol Station.
The complaint also alleges that agents coerced and deceived workers they detained into waiving their right to see an immigration judge and submitting to “voluntary departure,” a form of summary expulsion which can result in a years-long bar on reentry to the United States.
The lawsuit said that plaintiffs Morales Cisneros, Vargas Mendez, and Hernandez Espinoza were detained in cold, windowless cells lit 24 hours a day, with no bed, mattress, or blankets besides an aluminum sheet. Border Patrol agents denied their repeated requests to call a lawyer or their family. At no point did Border Patrol agents provide written information about voluntary departure in a language or format they could read, according to the complaint.
Hernandez Espinoza, who had resided in Kern County for 20 years, said she was asked by federal agents to sign forms she was not permitted to read, without disclosing that she was agreeing to leave the country, and ignored her pleas for an opportunity to appear before an immigration judge.
Hernandez Espinoza and at least 40 others were deported to Mexico and separated from their families, unsure of when they will see their loved ones again, according to the lawsuit.
Border Patrol officials have said their operation, dubbed “Return to Sender,” targeted undocumented immigrants who were known to have committed crimes.
“Border Patrol enforcement actions are highly targeted,” A DHS spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday. “Businesses that human traffic and exploit migrants for cheap labor should be afraid — we will go after them. As for law-abiding companies, the media is intentionally manufacturing fear.”
“Let’s be clear, if there was any correlation between rampant illegal immigration and a good economy, Biden would have had a booming economy,” the DHS spokesperson said. “When we discover any alleged or potential misconduct, we immediately refer it for investigation and cooperate fully with any criminal or administrative investigations. This is the case whether the alleged misconduct occurs on or off duty.”
The three-day operation happened days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has promised to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history. The presence of Border Patrol agents in the Central Valley brought fear of mass deportations to the region’s immigrant communities.
The Kern County operation led to rumors and rampant misinformation on social media of more deportation raids, raids and sweeps throughout the state, spurring protests among students, undocumented people and their families.
“Farm workers, and all our neighbors in Kern County, should have the right to move, work, and live free from fear,” said UFW President Teresa Romero in a statement. “As a result of Border Patrol’s coercive tactics, dozens of long-term residents of Kern County are now stranded in Mexico, far from their homes and the families, jobs, and communities that need them.”
“Discriminatory raids by rogue federal agencies undermine the right of Latino citizens to feel at home in their own country. Such raids also intimidate farm workers into tolerating labor exploitation and abuse in the fields, pushing wages and working conditions down for all workers” Romero said.
The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU Foundations of Northern California, Southern California, and San Diego & Imperial Counties, and by Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP.
“Border Patrol’s lawless practices do not make anyone safer. They terrorize communities, violate the Constitution, and disregard limits that Congress has imposed on immigration agents,” said Bree Bernwanger, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. “This lawsuit seeks to end Border Patrol’s unlawful reliance on racial profiling, indiscriminate arrests without a warrant, and using coercion and deception to deny people their rights.”
The lawsuit alleges federal agents committed three unlawful practices: stops regardless of reasonable suspicion of unlawful presence, arrests without regard to probable cause of flight risk, and voluntary departure without a knowing and voluntary waiver of rights.
According to the lawsuit, Border Patrol violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures, their Fifth Amendment right to due process, and other federal laws.
“Border Patrol traveled 300 miles from the border to round up people based on skin color—which is itself unacceptable,” said Ajay Krishnan, partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters. “But the agents’ behavior here—smashing windows, slashing tires, throwing a grandmother to the ground, arresting her, and then letting her go after seeing her green card—is beyond the pale. These illegal practices have to end.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 10:30 AM.
