A surge in federal immigration raids across California's Central Valley has become a central issue in the race for the state's 22nd congressional district, Al Jazeera reported from Bakersfield. Since early October, agents, often masked and driving unmarked vehicles, have carried out a 45-day operation the Trump administration calls Operation Save California, part of its wider mass deportation drive.
The region's farms rely heavily on migrant and Latino workers, and the report said the raids had deepened economic and political insecurity in communities long shaped by labour organising. Democratic candidate Randy Villegas campaigned in Bakersfield on Monday. The outlet noted that a memorial had been set up locally for the recently deceased civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union.
Source: Al Jazeera