Los Angeles, California — As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, a recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) raid in a rural California county is terrifying the immigrant community.

CBP said the operation in Kern County in early January lasted three days and resulted in 78 people being detained. The United Farm Workers (UFW) union said it believed the number was closer to 200.

“The day after the attack, the fields were almost deserted,” Alejanda, a 38-year-old undocumented farmworker who declined to give her last name, said of the aftermath of the attack.

She explained that many workers are staying home out of fear. “The orchards are usually packed with people this time of year, but when I get back to work it feels like I’m alone.”

Local labor and groups like the UFW viewed the raid as a blow to immigration enforcement ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

His second term as president is expected to usher in a new era of heightened restrictions and deportation efforts.

Although the number of arrests represents only a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands undocumented worker As the backbone of California’s agricultural sector, such raids cause anxiety far beyond those detained.

“On Wednesday (the day after the raid), I didn’t go to work. I barely left the house,” Alejonda said, adding that she left her five-year-old son at home instead of going to daycare. Risk driving him.

“Everyone was talking about what happened. Everyone was scared, including me. I didn’t actually meet any agents myself, but you could still feel the tension.”

A confident organization

After frequently describing undocumented immigrants as “criminals” and “animals” during his presidential campaign, Trump is likely to spend his first days in office trying to make good on his promise to carry out “the largest mass deportations” in U.S. history. plan”.

About 11 million people live in the United States without legal documentation, some of whom have worked in the country for decades, building families and communities.

The January arrests in Kern County appeared to be the first large-scale raid by the California Border Patrol since Trump’s victory in the November election, fueling speculation about the potential impact of the incident. mass deportations immigrant communities and the economic sectors that rely on their labor.

About 50% of California’s agricultural workforce are undocumented immigrants.

In California, undocumented status is considered a source of ongoing anxiety for workers and a lever for employers, who often pay these workers lower wages and compensate them. less protection In the fields.

But Alejonda said workplace raids like the one in Kern County are uncommon in the area.

“I’ve been here five years and I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” she said, noting that workers were detained as they left the fields to go home.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that the operation, called Return to Sender, targeted undocumented individuals with criminal backgrounds and ties to criminal organizations.

#wefeedyou pic.twitter.com/8e6GE9RRkk

— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) January 11, 2025

The raid was carried out by agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s El Centro Sector, which is located near the border with Mexico and Southern California, more than five hours’ drive from the site of the raid.

“El Center Sector takes all border threats seriously,” Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino said in a release. “As directed by the mission and threats, our area of ​​responsibility extends from the U.S./Mexico border to Oregon Border.”

UFW spokesman Antonio De Loera-Brust said the operation showed that agencies like U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could become more aggressive as Trump takes office.

He also questioned U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s characterization of the raid as targeting people with criminal records, saying the operation cast a wide net and targeted people who looked like farm workers. .

Two of those arrested were members of the UFW, who the group said were fathers who had lived in the area for more than 15 years.

“The Border Patrol, operating more than 300 miles north of the Mexican border, is clearly acting on its own initiative and authority to conduct such targetless sweeps, which shows that the Border Patrol is clearly motivated by hostility toward hard-working immigrant communities. encouraged by the political climate of the country,” Delora-Brewster told Al Jazeera.

“This type of action could become the new normal under the incoming Trump administration, which is certainly deeply concerning.”