Early in President Trump’s first administration, several Kern County organizations started tip lines that people could call if they discovered ongoing immigration enforcement activity.

Almost three weeks ago, the hotline started ringing again. In panicked voices, callers reported seeing U.S. Border Patrol agents questioning Latinos in parking lots and gas stations, and detaining many. In some cases, they said, loved ones had been detained.

Khan’s Rapid Response Network Caught in the action. The organization’s staff and volunteers fanned out across the Bakersfield area and beyond. Home Depot, swap meets, and other locations where the Border Patrol has been spotted. When they confirmed the raid, they sought to document the scene, including violations of rights and the use of force, recording the names of those detained and interviewing witnesses.

By the end of the multi-day Border Patrol operation, 78 undocumented immigrants had been arrested, according to the Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector.

Border Patrol Chief Agent Gregory K. Bovino, who heads the El Centro sector in the Imperial Valley along the Mexican border, said in a social media statement that agents took into custody two child rapists and “other criminals.” . He said agents arrested people for not being in the United States.

Meanwhile, advocates on the ground say the operation indiscriminately targets Latino farmworkers and day workers, with far more people being detained. They wondered why agents in El Centro, 300 miles south, were operating operations so far from the border.

Representatives for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to requests for comment.

Although the Rapid-Response Network is not designed to intervene in raids, its members played an important support role by documenting operations and providing advice to those detained. We are a network partner in Kern County.

During the first Trump administration, rapid response networks emerged across the state. Community-led groups became the first line of communication for migrants overwhelmed by the threat of attacks and mass deportations.

The premise was simple. These are the people who see immigration and border agents in their communities, call hotlines, and send text messages. Dispatchers will notify volunteers. Volunteers respond to reported addresses to see if there is actually an active operation. If verified, the dispatcher can send a legal observer to monitor the situation and an attorney to provide legal assistance.

During the pandemic, and as immigrants face fewer threats of deportation under the Biden administration, many networks have pivoted to providing people with information about vaccines and food assistance.

But after Trump was elected in November amid promises to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history, local organizations are abandoning the rapid response network built eight years ago.

In the first days of his new term, Trump issued a number of executive orders that closed legal avenues for asylum and illegal immigration declared a national emergency at the southern border. Public opinion may be on his side. recent polls From the New York Times and Ipsos, we found that 55% of Americans strongly or somewhat strongly believe that all immigrants in the country are illegally deported.

Along with providing legal defense to immigrants detained by authorities, much of what the network does is preventive. they inform community members their rights Ice appears at the door and asks for a warrant if you don’t answer questions. They urge people to document encounters and report incidents. It also ensures that families have an emergency plan in place.

They use text messaging and social media to alert people to confirmed operations and, more often, suppress rumors that can drive people to stay home from work and children from school. Masu.

“Our main goal is to build power, not panic,” said Lisa Knox, co-director and general counsel for the California Collaborative, which supports a statewide rapid response network. . “One of the biggest roles these community networks can play is disseminating accurate information and dispelling misinformation.”

Even before Trump started this week, the Bakersfield-area raid unleashed a wave of fear across the central valley, with a largely immigrant workforce harvesting a quarter of the food grown in the United States. The fast-response network has kicked into high gear to help.

at least half Estimates from the federal Department of Labor show that of the state’s 162,000 farmers are undocumented. Research conducted By UC Merced. Many of these workers have children or spouses born here.

Weeks after the Bakersfield Raid, Kern’s Rapid Response Network distributes groceries to more than 200 families afraid to leave their homes and coordinates rides for people afraid to go to work I did. Network partners are investigating emergency rental assistance for families who lost income after the attack.

“There is high panic,” said Blanca Ojeda, a Valley faith organizer who directs the Valley Watch Network, a rapid response network serving communities from Kern County to San Joaquin County. “The activities in Caen… heightened everyone’s senses and made everyone a little more suspicious.”

Inland Empire’s rapid response network, which had not received a call in eight months, has fielded nearly 140 calls warning of a possible immigration enforcement operation in the weeks since its Bakersfield operation, according to the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice. I received a text message.

Network volunteers have responded to more than 70 reports in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The group has been posting updates on Instagram, but so far they have dispelled rumors of sightings of immigration agents. At least two had been confirmed on social media Friday afternoon.

Javier Hernandez, the coalition’s executive director, said trying to respond to reports of attacks in an area spanning more than 27,000 square miles is no easy feat. To meet that demand, the Inland Empire Network aims to produce English- and Spanish-speaking dispatchers from 4 a.m. to midnight every day, and is in the process of training 300 responders.

The Valley Watch Network faces similar challenges. It has trained more than 90 people since late last year and is looking to recruit more lawful observers to respond to potential enforcement operations in remote farming communities in the San Joaquin Valley.

“We just want to be able to mobilize as quickly as possible,” Ojeda said.

This article is part of the Times.” equity reporting initiative, Funded by james irvine foundationexplores the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address them. Economic inequality in California.