For the attorneys, organizers, and community members on the ground, the Kern County immigration raid was more than just a headline — it was a turning point in the fight to protect their neighbors from fear and injustice.
On January 7, 2025, residents of California’s Kern County woke to a startling sight: green-striped Customs and Border Patrol SUVs parked in places they had never been seen before. The SUVs were in small business parking lots and dotted along rural highways. By day’s end, the immigration enforcement raids had begun. More than 70 people were arrested and taken into Border Patrol custody.
In Kern County, immigration enforcement is typically handled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Even then, arrests are usually targeted at specific individuals. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on the other hand, rarely operates outside its 100-mile zone near the U.S.–Mexico border. Kern County is almost 300 miles away from that area. But on January 7, Border Patrol agents cast a far wider net. They didn’t go after individual people. Instead, they stopped people of color, especially those who agents believed to be farmworkers. Their tactics were aggressive and unprecedented…