What's at stake?
District 1 candidate Rob Fuentes has represented ICE in habeas corpus detention cases, a role that he says does not contradict his public campaign messaging supporting the abolition of ICE.
Rob Fuentes, a centrist Democrat running for a seat on the Fresno City Council, says there’s no disconnect between his stance supporting “abolishing” ICE and his day job as a federal prosecutor, which includes arguing on behalf of ICE in at least 124 Trump administration immigration cases.
Fuentes, 40, works for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Fresno under Eric Grant, a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor. He said he was hired under the Biden administration in the summer of 2023 and assigned primarily to civil rights and white collar fraud cases.
In an interview Wednesday with Fresnoland, Fuentes said he is not being disingenuous with voters in his district because, he said, ICE cases are not his primary responsibility and only make up a relatively small portion of his caseload.
“I would reject the premise that I’m taking the opposite position in my campaign life versus my professional life,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes acknowledged that many federal prosecutors have quit since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown, but he chose to keep his job, he said, because he can still have a positive impact and help reduce harm.
“I’ve considered leaving on a number of occasions, but ultimately decided that I could achieve more good, including harm reduction, so to speak, by staying,” Fuentes acknowledged. “Could I at some point reach a point where I believe that I’m no longer achieving a net positive in my work, of course, and if and when that day comes, I’ll continue the public service that has really defined my career, but from the outside.”
While Fuentes did not elaborate on the meaning of “harm reduction,” thousands of federal prosecutors have quit under the Trump administration, while hundreds more have been fired by the administration for being “out of step” with the Trump agenda. Last year, the American Bar Association reported that the “vast majority” of attorneys in the DOJ’s Civil Rights division have quit or been fired. The administration has struggled to fill the positions with experienced prosecutors.
Fuentes has also worked on immigration cases from the other side, citing his work representing unaccompanied minors free of charge when he was in private practice. His campaign also frequently notes Fuentes’ farmworker-family background. Fuentes also detailed his experience as a civil rights attorney, including work with California Rural Legal Assistance and the ACLU and his prior work as a defense attorney, which included working on immigration cases.
He also said he still stands by his prior statements about supporting sanctuary state laws such as SB 54, which prohibits California cops from initiating contact with ICE. On Wednesday, Fuentes said he also supports abolishing ICE and doubled down in his previous criticism of the controversial federal agency.
When asked whether those political positions were compatible with his professional obligations as a federal court officer, Fuentes defended his record in court and on the campaign trail, saying he has always remained consistent.
In cases when he believes an immigrant is being unlawfully detained, he told Fresnoland he is “very forthright” with the courts.
“My actions are completely in line with the values that I represent and the positions that I’m putting forward,” Fuentes said.
The city council candidate also said that the courts are fulfilling their role by upholding the law. He added that, in most of the cases they are seeing, judges are ordering the release of people detained by immigration authorities, particularly in instances where those detentions are found to be unlawful.
“I take my oath to the court very seriously, and that oath includes upholding the law and upholding the Constitution, and so I am very clear with the court where there is insufficient justification for holding an individual in immigration detention,” Fuentes said. “I am very forthright with the court, and I think I am helping the court reach what is the correct lawful and constitutional decision in each of these cases.”
Fuentes, Singh locked in tight race for the Fresno City Council
Fuentes recently finished a close second place in the June 2 primary election for the District 1 seat on the Fresno City Council. Fuentes initially emerged with a small lead when the polls closed on election night but eventually fell behind current frontrunner Naindeep Singh.
Just 247 votes separated the top two candidates — out of more than 11,000 ballots — who now find themselves in a grueling runoff to fill the seat currently occupied by Councilmember Annalisa Perea, who also endorsed Fuentes.
Fuentes’ courtroom and campaign positions have raised eyebrows and questions in Fresno’s legal community.
George Rios, a Fresno-based immigration attorney, confirmed that Fuentes has been one of the prosecutors in a case in which the federal government is defending the warden of an ICE detention facility.
The case involves a father of three U.S. citizen children who has been detained since September 2025 after being taken into immigration custody during a traffic stop, according to the habeas petition obtained by Fresnoland.
While Rios said he has never personally spoken with Fuentes, he questioned what he sees as a contradiction between Fuentes’ campaign messaging and his current work as an assistant U.S. attorney.
“I do think that it’s important that voters know about this,” Rios told Fresnoland. “You’re saying these are the ideals and policies that you are seeking to defend and put forward, but your actions say something completely different.”
Fuentes similarly rejected any notion that he has defended improper immigration enforcement practices. While noting that many case details are confidential, he maintained that when a noncitizen is being held unlawfully or unconstitutionally, he makes that clear to the court.
Fuentes told Fresnoland that, despite his job, which includes arguing on behalf of ICE, he thinks the federal immigration office should be abolished.
Fuentes said that ICE “has become an unlawful and unhinged organization.”
He argued that his courtroom work and policy views are compatible because both are grounded in the law.
“I’ve dedicated my career to public service in Fresno, and I really do stand by my record,” Fuentes said. “I’m the only person in this race who has stood in court and prevented the deportation of immigrants.”
