Flea market vendors call on Fresno councilmember to resign after ICE raid rumors
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fifty Central Valley vendors demand Councilmember Arias resign after false ICE alert
- Petition blames Arias's claim for income loss and fear at Cherry Avenue Auction
- Arias defends warning as protective act, blames Trump for immigration enforcement
Fifty vendors from various markets throughout the Central Valley are calling on Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias to resign.
Arias said at a June 12 City Council meeting that an ICE raid would take place at the Cherry Avenue Auction swap meet that weekend. ICE agents never showed up, but general attendance dropped significantly. Vendors at the swap meet said the rumor hurt their income, and business still hasn’t returned to what it used to be because many people remain too scared to visit.
“We started collecting signatures because his statement killed the flea market businesses,” said Susana Osuna, a produce vendor who started the petition June 15. “Miguel Arias claims to have had the interest and ‘protection’ in mind for the people. Yet he irreparably put all those he claims he wants to help out of business.”
Vendors are now demanding Councilmember Arias either disclose his source or issue an apology for spreading false information. Arias has declined to publicly disclose the source of his information about the rumored ICE raid at Cherry Avenue Auction.
“Mr. Arias continues to enjoy his financial employment and does not have to worry about how to make a house payment, pay the rent or put food on the table,” the petition reads.
Osuna plans to address the Fresno City Council meeting on Thursday.
Arias said blaming him only shifts attention away from who he sees as the true source of the problem with the mass deportation raids — President Donald Trump. He encouraged community members to report any immigration enforcement activity, saying it’s important for everyone’s safety.
In a statement, Arias called on businesses — particularly those owned by Trump supporters — to demand that the Trump administration stop deportation raids.
He added that businesses that rely on undocumented residents should be transparent with customers about the steps they’re taking to protect the community.
“If businesses fail to ensure the safety of their customers from illegal immigration raids, for our safety, we will be compelled to spend our money elsewhere,” Arias said.
Devon Solis, a vendor at Cherry Avenue Auction who sells plants and clothing, said she signed the petition but understood why some people are afraid to attend the swap meet with ICE raids happening across the country.
“I don’t want to say anything that the public may take as me dismissing the danger and think all I care about is sales. But the truth is no raid happened. I personally know over 100 vendors that have been affected just like me. We’ve had no income over the past month. It hasn’t gone back to how things were and I don’t know if it will any time soon,” Solis said.
Solis added that she’s been set back a month on all of her living expenses.
“Bills don’t wait, I was late on my rent this past month,” she said. “I’m making some money but not nearly enough to cover bills to survive. I’m still behind because everything was very unexpected.”
Neil Burson, the owner of Cherry Avenue Auction, said Arias’s comments have “decimated a local industry.” Burson has also said previously that he will not prevent ICE from entering the swap meet.
“The vendors are the hardest working people around and Arias was wrong to do what he did,” he said.
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM.
