What's at stake?
Fuentes is currently seaking a seat on the Fresno City Council.
Fresno City Council candidate Rob Fuentes says he quit his job as a federal prosecutor, saying he was “pushed out by the Trump administration” just 10 days after a Fresnoland investigation revealed Fuentes’ work on cases involving immigrants captured by ICE.
First reported Monday by The Fresno Bee, Fuentes later confirmed his departure in a message to Fresnoland.
“I was pushed out by the Trump administration for criticizing ICE publicly. I was placed on administrative leave literally one day after my criticisms of ICE were made public, with the expectation that I would be fired. I saved them the trouble and resigned.”
Fresnoland first broke the story on June 25, after confirming at least 124 ICE-related cases in which Fuentes was involved in his capacity as a now-former federal prosecutor.
In his exclusive interview with Fresnoland last month, Fuentes disputed the idea that he had been keeping such case work secret from voters, saying those cases made up only a small part of his workload, which focused primarily on civil rights and white collar fraud cases.
In the Fresnoland interview, Fuentes, then a federal prosecutor working for the Trump Justice Department, said he fully supported “abolishing” ICE, describing the federal immigration agency as “unhinged” and “unlawful.”
But Fuentes also said he had no immediate plans to quit his job, saying — without elaborating — that he believed he could have a positive impact on cases and engage in what he called “harm reduction.”
Fuentes recently finished a close second place in the June 2 primary election for the District 1 seat in 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’ departure comes amid growing public criticism from groups who held a rally last week, calling for Fuentes to quit the race, and announced public plans to hold a protest this week at the State Center Community College District (SCCCD) Board meeting, where Fuentes serves as president.
The news of Fuentes’ position sparked backlash on social media. Grassroots groups like Fresno Resistance, gathered on July 2 to denounce Fuentes and ask him to step down as SCCCD president.
“Rob Fuentes wants you to believe he’s on your side, he’s on the side of the community,” Alfred Aldrete, cofounder of Fresno Resistance. “He stands before you, hand over heart, eyes full of conviction, talking about abolishing ICE, protecting immigrant families, defending our students and our neighbors, all that sounds good, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing, pretty words don’t stand up in a courtroom.”
Fuentes shared that he has “never worked on a deportation case” or ever “worked to separate families” on his campaign social media platforms and posted a video over the Fourth of July weekend. He wanted to address what he called “misinformation going around about my life-long record as a civil rights attorney.” And that disinformation from his opposing candidate, who he does not name, has deeply disappointed him.
Aldrete questioned whether Fuentes disclosed his ICE-related caseload to fellow trustees and voters, arguing that the public deserves to know whether he can be trusted to protect undocumented students and families while having worked with the agency.
Aldrete also criticized Fuentes’ endorsements, pointing specifically to support from Mayor Jerry Dyer and the Fresno Police Officers Association, which he described as particularly concerning.
Fresnoland first confirmed that Fuentes has argued on behalf of ICE in habeas petition cases, a role he said does not conflict with his public campaign messaging supporting the abolition of ICE.
Fuentes said he was hired under the Biden administration in the summer of 2023 and was initially assigned primarily to civil rights and white collar fraud cases. Since President Donald Trump returned to office, Fuentes said a small portion of his caseload has involved habeas cases related to ICE.
Fuentes said he does not believe he was being disingenuous with voters in his district by not disclosing that work because ICE cases are not his primary responsibility.
He also said he had considered leaving his position on several occasions, but ultimately decided that he could achieve more good by remaining in the role.
Fresnoland’s Rob Parsons contributed to this report.
