The Border Patrol carried out a series of raids in Bakersfield starting on Tuesday January 7th, the raids lasted about 3 days. The raids targeted locations where day laborers and field workers often congregate. U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino claims they’re about safety, but research tells a different story.
“Here in the Premier Sector we go the extra mile—or 500 of them—to protect our nation and communities from bad people...," said Chief Gregory Bovino on his Facebook page.
Immigration raids leave lasting scars. The National Immigration Law Center highlights the devastating impacts of the 2008 Postville raid, "Raids conducted in the first decade of the 2000s, under the George W. Bush administration, are instructive for our longer-term expectations of such impacts. In 2008, a raid on a meat processing facility in Postville, Iowa, resulted in the arrest of 389 workers — nearly 20 percent of the town’s residents," and "Research from other raids during this period documents academic, social, and psychological harms to impacted children, as well as downward economic mobility and higher levels of food and housing insecurity for workers and families."
According to the American Psychological Association immigration raids don’t just disrupt lives—they deeply impact mental health. Research links immigration enforcement to increased depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Raids, especially in rural communities, hit immigrant and Latino populations the hardest.
Chief Gregory Bovino stated that he is planning more raids for Fresno and Sacramento.
Are Border Patrol raids protection or destruction?