What's at stake:
As Border Patrol and ICE have been in Kern and Fresno counties, the process of detention has now changed under Trump, leaving more room for increasing concerns about the impact on local communities.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to expand detention capacity and operations nationwide as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which includes ongoing operations and sweeps by immigration agents in the central San Joaquin Valley and other parts of California.
In December 2024, GEO Group, the private contractor that owns several ICE detention centers across the country, announced a $70 million investment to support this expansion.
Christopher V. Ferreira, GEO Group’s director of corporate relations, told Fresnoland that the investment would go toward “increased housing, transportation, and monitoring capabilities and services to meet the anticipated requirements of the federal government’s immigration law enforcement priorities.”
Documents revealed by an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the ACLU in September 2024 suggest that two Central Valley detention facilities—one in Bakersfield and another in McFarland—are “likely under consideration by ICE” for construction.
As of July 2023, the ACLU reported that 90.8% of people detained in ICE custody each day are held in facilities owned or operated by private prison corporations. There are only six ICE detention facilities in California, all run by private, for-profit prison companies. The two in the Central Valley have a capacity of 1,100 combined.
The expansion will increase the number of people in pretrial custody, and immigration attorneys argue that this rapid growth is part of a broader strategy to instill fear in the community.
Several ongoing lawsuits from former detainees, including José Rubén Hernandez, have criticized ICE custody and its practices for poor conditions.
Detention impacts in the Central Valley
Hernandez was 31 years old when ICE detained him in Lodi on the same day he was granted early release from a local prison for an assault conviction he said he hadn’t been properly informed of that would carry immigration consequences.
Hernandez spent 17 months in two Kern County detention facilities. In an interview with Fresnoland, he described unlivable conditions, areas contaminated with feces and urine, abusive treatment from staff, and cleaning the facility for $1 a day. With no access to an optometrist, he was unable to see clearly for most of the time he was in custody.
His time behind bars further pulled away from the life he had built since the age of 3 as a lawful permanent resident—attending U.S. public schools, pursuing higher education, surrounded by his family and loved ones.
Hernandez is only one of over 41,169 individuals who have been incarcerated in the U.S. by ICE as of Feb. 9.
His story, immigration advocates say, reflects the harsh conditions many face after immigration enforcement actions. In early January, a large U.S. Customs and Border Protection operation was carried out by agents from El Centro near the Mexico border, which resulted in at least 78 arrests.
On Feb. 26, ACLU attorneys representing the United Farm Workers and five Kern County residents filed a lawsuit against the head of the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol officials, alleging that the agency’s operation indiscriminately targeted people of color who appeared to be farmworkers or day laborers.
In Fresno, community members have spent weeks protesting ICE and Border Patrol sightings across the Central Valley.
While the exact number of detained individuals in Fresno remains unclear, watch networks have reported an increase in calls about ICE sightings since December. In late January and early February, the network tracked three ICE interactions in Fresno County.
Faith in the Valley, a watch network that verifies reports of immigration enforcement in real time, documented 57 calls from Fresno County between Jan. 1 and 23, with many more reported across the Central Valley, according to Pam Nelson-Hollis, the organization’s director of development and communications.
The calls ranged from requests for asylum support and legal service referrals to reports of ICE sightings. Nelson Hollis declined to disclose how many detention cases Faith in the Valley is currently assisting with.
“The total number of calls the VWN received between December and January increased significantly,” Nelson-Hollis said.
How former detainees are fighting back
During Hernandez’s detention, he said he filed more than 80 grievances, a process he learned with guidance from outside advocates. However, he said, the GEO Group, the private contractor managing the Mesa Verde detention facility for ICE, where he spent most of his time, rejected the majority of his grievances.
When Hernandez tried to gather evidence to support his claims, such as video footage after he reported sexually abusive pat-downs, he said his requests were ignored, and facility staff retaliated against him.
“The warden would react really aggressively, impulsively and would tell us that we deserved to be treated the way we were,” said Hernandez. “Which led us to say, ‘No, enough is enough,’ because nothing was being done to hold these officers accountable. We continued fighting for our rights, bringing up any violations at this facility, and organized a labor and hunger strike.”
In the same email to Fresnoland, Ferreira, GEO Group’s director of corporate relations, declined to comment on Hernandez’s accounts of conditions and staff treatment in Central Valley detention facilities.
Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, a deputy public defender in San Francisco representing Hernandez’s immigration case based on his previous conviction, said that Hernandez is part of various lawsuits involving his experiences in detention and his immigration status.
Hernandez is part of a 2022 class-action lawsuit he and eight other detainees filed against The GEO Group, Inc., alleging forced labor at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility. The class-action case is currently on hold, pending a final decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a similar lawsuit filed by detained workers in Tacoma, Washington, said Lisa Knox, the legal director of the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice.
The workers in the Tacoma case received a decision affirming an award of back pay and damages, but GEO may request reconsideration.
In December 2023, Hernandez filed an administrative tort complaint against ICE, seeking at least $1 million in personal injury damages, as a potential precursor to a lawsuit.
On Jan. 6, the National Labor Relations Board filed a formal complaint against GEO Group, accusing the company of retaliating against Hernandez and another detention worker who protested working conditions inside a California facility, in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
“I think he’s an exceptional person, and exemplifies, in many ways, all that is wrong with the immigration system,” said Reyes Savalza. “He has had everything that’s horrible that happened to him.”
Hernandez’s advocacy work through labor and hunger strikes inside the detention center led to contributions to the ACLU of Northern California’s two year immigration detention report (2022-2023) and a detention database, to expose and document the daily conditions of life in California immigration detention by tracking formal grievances sent to ACLU by those inside.
Immigration cases like Hernandez’s are expected to increase in the coming months and years, according to Sasha Novis, a senior attorney at the California Collaborative for Immigration Justice (CCIJ), due to Trump’s wave of executive orders targeting immigrant rights.
Three days after Trump took the oath of office, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo expanding the use of expedited removal. Under this policy, the government can detain and deport people without seeing a judge if they cannot prove they’ve lived in the U.S. for at least two years.
On Jan. 29, Trump signed his first piece of legislation, the Laken Riley Act. It mandates federal detention for immigrants accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, or any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury.
Novis said the law aims at expanding immigration detention “as a way to strip away people’s humanity by subjecting them to deplorable conditions and essentially indefinite detention while they are fighting for their immigration case.”
The fear, Novis said, is that more people will be subjected to immigration detention without a way to secure release. Certain individuals, based on how they enter the country or past criminal convictions, are already subject to mandatory detention, meaning that non-citizens with certain criminal convictions must be detained by ICE and are ineligible for a bond hearing before an immigration judge.
The Laken Riley Act expands mandatory detention to include individuals merely accused of certain crimes, not just those convicted.
Novis said this raises concerns that more people will be detained under the Trump administration’s policies without the opportunity to argue for release, forcing them to remain in detention for lengthy immigration proceedings.
Novis said there is a connection between the rapid expansion of detention, the profits these corporations expect to generate, and the broader goal of instilling fear in the community—making people afraid to go to school, visit the doctor, or go to work—essential activities necessary for living in this country.
Ferreira also declined to comment on Novis’ statement on the GEO Group instilling fear in the community.
The fear also discourages people from fighting their immigration cases, Novis said, as many detainees struggle in detention due to harsh living conditions, lack of necessary healthcare, mental health crises, and being cut off from their families.
“Immigration detention is used to deter people from accessing legal counsel and pursuing their legal remedies,” said Novis. “If they were released, they could still argue for their relief in court, with the key difference being they wouldn’t be separated from their family or deprived of resources to fight their deportation.”
How people can stay safe
Nuria Zúñiga Alaniz, head consul of the Consulate of México in Fresno, said that individuals detained by immigration agents have the right to contact the consulate, which offers guidance on their rights and provides recommendations for handling interactions with immigration or law enforcement officers.
When foreign nationals are arrested or detained, they must be advised of the option to have the closest consulate or the embassy notified, known as consular notification, according to the Bureau of Consular Affairs website. This applies to 58 countries.
Consular notification and access are mutual obligations based on treaties between the U.S. and foreign governments, according to the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs website.
The Mexican consulate developed an app that lets users quickly connect to the consulate, provides a priority tracking number, and tracks their location when interacting with immigration agents. The app also offers essential information on rights during arrest, emergency notifications, and a map of nearby consular offices for in-person assistance.
Daniel Rodela, a community organizer at Faith in the Valley who confirmed reports during Kern County’s immigration border patrol operation, said he worked with the consulate to help locate detainees and assist families in finding their detained relatives.
“When you try to locate folks online, it takes 48 hours for you to actually be able to locate where they’re at,” said Rodela. “By that time, immigration agents had already scared them into signing up for self deportation orders.”
Hernandez said that many people would be jeopardized if returned to their country of origin, where they face threats of violence, persecution, or death due to their political views, identity, or circumstances.
“It’s really unfair that people are living in fear, anxiety, and turmoil,” Hernandez said. “It seems inhumane—not just because of the separation, but also because of the treatment people endure inside. The constant tension and, ultimately, being sent to a country where they’re at risk of harm, stripping them of their safety, is inhumane.”
When Hernandez was detained, he said the treatment left him feeling isolated and unsure of how to access help, until he and others began filing grievances.
Reyes Savalza, Hernandez’s lawyer, said Hernandez was released because he was held for an extended period without a bond hearing, violating due process. A federal judge granted him a bond hearing, and an immigration judge ordered his release, determining he was neither a flight risk nor a danger.
After his release, Hernandez said community support provided mental health care, medical assistance, and helped him grow as an advocate and organizer. It also allowed him to return to church, reunite with family, and attend a local college in Stockton.
“They assured me that I wasn’t in the fight alone and that support was a beautiful thing for me, and it made me a true believer in community,” said Hernandez. “I’m involved because I know the power of community, and I honestly believe that it was through everyone’s collective efforts that I found my liberation.”
In Hernandez’s immigration case, which determined whether he could be removed as a lawful permanent resident, Reyes Savalza argued that his prison convictions did not constitute grounds for removal. On March 6, the immigration judge issued a decision terminating the DHS’ removal proceedings against Mr. Hernandez Gomez because the government could not sustain the charges against him.
“Mr. Hernandez Gomez endured terrible abuse and neglect from ICE and GEO guards for years, but not once did Mr. Hernandez Gomez back down from his quest for justice,” said Reyes Savalza. “He is an admirable and fearless leader and we hope this victory allows him to begin to heal as he continues to seek accountability against ICE’ abuse and neglect.”
Resources
- ICE custody online detainee locator to find detainees who are currently in ICE or Border Patrol custody for more than 48 hours.
- If you’re unsure where your children are, call 1-800-422-4453 to check if they are in the custody of a child welfare agency.
- Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) works to abolish immigration detention through campaigns, federal advocacy, and community support.
- Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, Inc. (RAICES) is a nonprofit organization that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost immigration legal services and education to under-served immigrant children, families, and refugees.
- Central Valley Immigration Integration Collaborative provides resources and services to immigrant families through collaborating, mobilizing and combining resources with other organizations.
- California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice uses legal and advocacy initiatives, data and reporting, public health and immigrant detention and campaigns for liberation to strengthen and guide both grassroots and statewide efforts to dismantle detention and liberate individuals.
- National Immigration Law Center defends the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their loved ones. The nonprofit recently compiled a Know Your Rights: Expedited Removal Expansion guide.
- National Immigrant Justice Center provides immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers legal services and resources. The center has a Know Your Rights: What to Do if You or a Loved One is Detained guide among others.
- ACLU has a list of immigration detention resources for lawyers.
