More than a year into the second Trump administration, the spectrum of mass immigration raids across the Central Valley continues to spread fear among undocumented residents and their loved ones.
But the experts and advocates say the situation on the ground may be different from what’s shared on social media.
That difference could matter enormously to the thousands of undocumented residents who call the Valley home.
Since 2024, nonstop immigration raids have occurred across the country, with major unrest in cities like Los Angeles, Portland and Minneapolis.
But immigration enforcement in Stanislaus County and the greater Central Valley has looked significantly different.
Immigration attorneys and advocates operating in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties confirm that large-scale sweeps have been legally blocked in the Central Valley.
A federal lawsuit stemming from a January 2025 Border Patrol operation that swept through predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Bakersfield resulted in a preliminary injunction prohibiting Border Patrol from conducting detentive stops and warrantless arrests without proper legal justification across California’s Eastern District. The region stretches from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.
As of now, the case is before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and its outcome could have implications well beyond the Central Valley.
Still, the current legal injunction has limits. Even with widespread sweeps on hold for now, immigration attorneys and advocates in the region say there are other ways people can come to the attention of immigration agents — and end up detained.
Laken Riley Act has increased enforcement in Valley
Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez is the program manager at Faith in the Valley and overseer of the Valley Watch Network, the region’s rapid response hotline.
She described local immigration enforcement in the area as “very much targeted.” She cautioned to undocumented immigrants to keep their records clean because of the Laken Riley Act, which went into federal law in January 2025.
The federal law applies nationwide and requires federal immigration authorities to detain undocumented immigrants who are accused of crimes like theft or burglary, even if not convicted.
“Any smudge on immigration history, whether the person is accused or cases are pending, or even if there are no formal charges filed, it puts people a lot more at risk of being highly scrutinized,” said Zaragoza-Yáñez. “It essentially creates a ping to immigration enforcement authorities and can flag your case.”
Modesto-area immigration attorney Andrea Fatone said while she has not seen many clients targeted by immigration enforcement in the traditional sense, a troubling pattern has emerged.
The frequency of people being detained at local jails on minor charges and then immediately transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody upon release has substantially increased. “Now it seems like the turnover on even just minor crimes is pretty high, and a lot of people are getting turned over to ICE,” she said.
Fatone agreed the reach of the Laken Riley Act is broader than many people realize. An accusation alone is enough to trigger mandatory detention with no pathway to an immigration bond under standard court processes.
“Anybody can make an accusation,” Acevedo said.
For those caught in that situation, the only recourse is to file a habeas petition in federal court, an expensive and legally complex process that many people cannot afford.
“A huge segment of the population dealing with these immigration issues is being detained without bond, ” Fatone said. “They’re not going to know what to do. That’s horrible.”
What experts say to do if ICE show up
Modesto immigration and criminal defense attorney Patrick Kolasinski, who has practiced locally for 15 years, said those confronted by immigration agents have the right to remain silent. That includes not answering questions about immigration status, birthplace, or how one entered the country. Immigration experts encourage people to say clearly, “I am exercising my right to remain silent.”
Kolasinski emphasized that people do not have to open their door or let anyone in without a warrant. Immigration officers cannot enter a home without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, so he said they should ask agents to identify their agency, show their badges, and slide any warrants under the door. People should verify their name and address are correctly listed on the warrant.
Zaragoza-Yáñez said immigration enforcement is not authorized to perform traffic stops or checkpoints. Those actions are reserved for state and local law enforcement. In public, people should ask federal agents the same questions, identifying agencies, showing badges and reviewing warrants.
Faith in the Valley has trained legal observers deployed in the eight counties they serve — San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern — to verify what is happening locally.
But, she said, residents should still call the local hotline and report any suspected ICE sightings, so that the trained professionals can verify or disprove the claims before misinformation spreads.
How attorneys advise immigrants with ongoing cases
Advocates say immigrants must show up to every court date — even when they’re afraid. Zaragoza-Yáñez says this is one of the most urgent messages she wants community members to hear.
No shows to immigration court hearings, can be ruled against in absentia — meaning they person can be ordered to be deported without them present. Courts are currently requiring in-person appearances and are no longer allowing video attendance.
“If someone doesn’t comply with those check-ins, they’re getting these people on technicalities during their next check-in,” said Zaragoza-Yáñez. This puts them at even greater risk of detention.
Kolasinski said just showing up is often not enough.
“You better have a lawyer before your ICE check-in — a month before your ICE check-in, or two months before, you better be looking for a lawyer,” he said.
He said having a lawyer at a check-in can lower the odds of detention. If a client is detained, the lawyer can track their whereabouts and act immediately.
“The biggest problem when somebody’s detained is that for maybe a week we don’t know where they are,” he said. “(The authorities are) already moving toward deportation, and we’ve lost a week of being able to work on their case. If the lawyer is there from the beginning, you haven’t lost the week.”
Asylum seekers face a particularly precarious situation. Both Fantone and Modesto-area immigration attorney Mayra Acevedo described where clients were summoned to local ICE offices for check-ins and then detained upon arrival.
Fatone said one client was detained during what was presented as a routine U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asylum interview in San Francisco, but held not at the usual asylum location. Instead the check-in was at an ICE facility.
“They pretty much had the plan to detain from the beginning,” she said.
Acevedo and Fatone jointly filed a habeas petition on that client’s behalf, and the woman was eventually released after a federal court found the detention unconstitutional.
“That has happened more often than not,” Fatone said. “The federal courts are granting the habeas petitions because they’re abusing their power.”
Acevedo also described an undocumented client who had completed routine annual ICE check-ins at the Sacramento office for years without incident., Then recently, an officer told her if there was no movement on her case by her next check-in, she would be detained.
The client has been waiting for an individual hearing date since late 2022, a delay Acevedo said is outside the client’s or attorney’s control.
Immigration courts have a years long backlog in the region
The departure of immigration judges, whether fired or resigned, has created severe backlogs.
“The wait times are now going into as far out as 2029 or 2030,” Zaragoza-Yáñez said, while remaining judges face pressure to fast-track decisions. “We’re seeing the increased likelihood of very unfair and fast-tracked deportation.”
She said the delays make qualified legal representation more critical than ever.
Acevedo has lived this reality firsthand. She has prepared one client’s case for a full merits hearing three times over three years, only to have it postponed each time. She said it happened once because the assigned judge was fired, and most recently when she received notice less than 30 days before the scheduled April hearing that it had been canceled.
When she called the court to reschedule, she was told to expect a new date in 2028 or 2029. Other attorneys have had dates stretch into 2030.
“It’s devastating,” she said. “The clients they’re praying for that date to be after the Trump administration and hoping that the next administration is better for them.”
Since February 2025, USCIS has initiated removal proceedings against more than 26,000 people whose immigration benefit requests were denied, but the threats haven’t stopped there. President Trump also signaled he would issue notices to appear (NTA) to anyone who files a family petition. Filing that petition is the very first step in applying for a green card.
“You’re having to be brave and put yourself at risk just to try to become legal,” said Fatone. “Which is also a chilling effect.”
The firing of immigration judges, not just the closing of the San Francisco court, is the core driver of the delays, Kolasinski said. The San Francisco court has largely relocated to Concord, which he noted is actually closer and more accessible from the Central Valley.
“The firing of the judges is the biggest problem,” he said. “All the good judges got fired.”
Kolasinski said fewer and fewer lawyers are taking immigration court cases, including his office, because of backlogs. He added that it typically takes 30 to 60 days just to get an initial appointment with an immigration attorney, and early screening — even years before a hearing — means can act quickly if something goes wrong.
“I can help them in 15 minutes. I can be on the road to ICE immediately, instead of not knowing what I’m walking into.”
Advocates say to be wary of who people turn to for help
Zaragoza-Yáñez has identified a dangerous trend for unofficial “immigration consultants” taking advantage of frightened community members. That includes notarios, tax preparers, insurance sellers, or others claiming to be experts without proper training.
“These people are not licensed. They don’t have legal authority to be helping people fill out forms or to be giving legal advice — they’re scammers,” she said. “Essentially, they’re committing fraud.” Instead they should seek only a licensed immigration attorney or a Department of Justice-accredited nonprofit, where services are often free or low-cost, she said.
Zaragoza-Yáñez urged Valley families to be proactive and create plans for their family members to follow if they come in contact with immigration enforcement.
California law allows parents to designate a trusted friend, neighbor, or relative as an authorized caregiver through a caregiver affidavit. That person should also be listed as an emergency contact at your children’s school and authorized for medical appointments, advocates said.
Fatone recommended having documents organized and accessible — including passports for children who are U.S. citizens in case they need to travel, and powers of attorney so that a trusted person can care for children if a parent is detained.
Faith in the Valley is developing a preparedness packet to help families create what Fatone called a “fire plan” — a clear set of steps, contacts and documents ready to go in an emergency.
“There’s a lot of things that are out of our control, but some of the things that are in our control are what happens if something were to happen to me? What happens to my kids?” Zaragoza-Yáñez said.