• About
  • Contact Us
The Filipino American Post
Advertisement
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • PH News
    • World News
    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Lawyers debate after Court of Appeals invalidates De Lima’s acquittal

    Palace asks Roque to return after arrest warrant is issued

  • Community
  • EVENTS
  • Opinion
    • All
    • Column
    • Legal
    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    Should undocumented migrants file income taxes

    Why Student visas are being cancelled by DHS

    Berberine for diabetes

    May green card holders travel outside the United States?

    Can Caregivers be Petitioned for Green Card?

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    Asylum as a defense to mass deportation

  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Arts & Culture
    • Business
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Magical Guyabano

    The Magical Guyabano

    What Your Moles Say About You

    What Your Moles Say About You

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

  • Online Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • PH News
    • World News
    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Lawyers debate after Court of Appeals invalidates De Lima’s acquittal

    Palace asks Roque to return after arrest warrant is issued

  • Community
  • EVENTS
  • Opinion
    • All
    • Column
    • Legal
    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    Should undocumented migrants file income taxes

    Why Student visas are being cancelled by DHS

    Berberine for diabetes

    May green card holders travel outside the United States?

    Can Caregivers be Petitioned for Green Card?

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    Asylum as a defense to mass deportation

  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Arts & Culture
    • Business
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Magical Guyabano

    The Magical Guyabano

    What Your Moles Say About You

    What Your Moles Say About You

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

  • Online Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
The Filipino American Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Community

After raids, fear paralyzes tiny town in California’s Tulare County

Residents in Poplar, a unincorporated community in Tulare County, say the raids have driven the town to a standstill

by Peter Schurmann
January 23, 2025
in Community
0

Mari Pérez Ruíz of Community Valley Empowerment Alliance discusses the recent raids with a community of indigenous farmworkers in Tulare County (Image: Manuel Ortiz)

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

POPLAR – In the early 1970s, this unincorporated town in California’s agricultural heartland was designated by county officials as having “no authentic future.” That designation —entailing dramatic cuts to basic services — remained until as recently as 2023.

Now, following a series of raids on immigrants that began on January 7 in neighboring Kern County, residents here say the future does indeed look bleak.

“People are scared. They don’t want to come out. We’re all scared,” says Gregorio, a resident of Poplar for the past seven years and the owner of a local business that caters to the community’s farmworker population. (We are not using Gregorio’s last name to protect his identity.)

“If you’re undocumented, it’s not safe to walk the streets,” he added. “And this is just the start. It’s going to get worse over the next four years.”

The raids — dubbed “Return to Sender” by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) — were viewed here as a dress rehearsal for his promised mass deportation campaign of unauthorized immigrants.

CBP Agent Gregory Bovino, who led the raids, stated in a social media post that CBP officers maintained the right to make arrests of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally without regard to due process. He promised “more to come.”

CBP reports that some 78 arrests were made over the course of the three-day operation and included individuals with outstanding warrants for crimes ranging from sexual assault of minors to illegal drug and firearm possession, as well as DUIs and other lesser offenses.

CBP says the raids were confined to Kern County. But several Poplar residents say they witnessed CBP agents patrolling local gathering spaces in and around the town. Several individuals who asked not to be identified described agents apprehending one individual on private land.

Requests for comment from CBP to confirm the statements went unanswered by the time of publication. A spokesperson for the Tulare County Sheriff’s office said they were unaware of any operations or detentions within the county.

CBP spokesperson David Kim initially told news media that Operation Return to Sender was targeted to specific individuals and that it was not a widespread roundup. He acknowledged, however, that individuals not previously identified for apprehension due to past criminal convictions were also detained.

Migrant farmworkers in Poplar, located in Tulare County, discuss the fear that has gripped the community in the wake of recent immigrant raids

“We don’t know what’s going on with the raids,” noted Gregorio, adding the swirl of misinformation online is exacerbating the panic residents are experiencing. “People are posting all kinds of lies on social media. Everyone’s confused over what is true and what isn’t.”

The fear now gripping the community in Poplar and across the region is also taking a toll on the local economy. Silvia (we are withholding her last name to protect her identity) says sales at her bakery have fallen 70 percent since the raids last week, as residents and families fear leaving their homes for even the most basic of necessities.

“It is stressful,” she noted. “If I don’t see someone for a day, let’s say a regular, I worry about what might have happened to them. Did they get detained, deported…”

Down the street at Sabroso Poplar, a local Mexican eatery, waitress Angelica Rana points to the empty dining hall. “Usually, this place would be full. Today, there’s no one here,” she says, adding that in her 18 years living in Poplar she’s never seen anything like this.

“We depend on the people who work in the fields. So yes, there’s been a big impact,” she said.

Angelica Rana says she’s never seen anything like the recent raids that struck local communities in her 18 years living in Poplar. The normally bustling restaurant where she works sat empty on a recent Monday afternoon (Image: Peter Schurmann)

Poplar, with just under 2,000 residents, is located on the southeastern edge of Tulare County, one of the nation’s largest producers of dairy, citrus and berries, among other crops, a multi-billion-dollar industry built largely on the backs of migrant labor.

Two-thirds of Poplar’s residents are Latino, though there is also a long-established Filipino community, as well as a smaller Yemeni population and Indigenous migrants from parts of Mexico and Central America.

An estimated 310,000 people live in unincorporated communities like Poplar across the San Joaquin Valley.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the town was the site of some of the earliest stirrings of what would become the farm worker movement led by labor groups like the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), among others. That history is celebrated in a new mural in the local park, which depicts the many faces — past and present — of those who have fought to improve conditions locally.

A mural celebrating local activists, organizers and residents of Poplar and neighboring communities. At center is Nagi Daifalah, a Yemeni farmworker killed in 1973 during protests for farmworker rights. Image: Manuel Ortiz

A mural celebrating local activists, organizers and residents of Poplar and neighboring communities. At center is Nagi Daifalah, a Yemeni farmworker killed in 1973 during protests for farmworker rights.     Image: Manuel Ortiz

“This was an epicenter of the farmworker movement and one of the areas that experienced the most violence,” explains Mari Pérez Ruíz, co-founder of the non-profit Central Valley Empowerment Alliance (CVEA), which advocates on behalf of residents in Poplar and surrounding communities.

CVEA is housed in what used to be Poplar’s fire house, shut down years earlier as part of cuts to local services after county officials identified it as among 13 communities with no growth prospects. All 13 were majority communities of color. Cuts included essentials like water and sewage. CVEA fought successfully to restore services for Poplar during California’s record drought ending in 2016.

“They did not make it easy,” noted Pérez Ruíz, referring to county officials and the outsized interests of local growers.

A community of Indigenous farmworkers on the outskirts of Poplar listen as Mari Pérez Ruíz discusses the recent raids and what residents can do to ensure their rights are protected. Image: Manuel Ortiz

Today, she and her team are busy supporting families too fearful to go to work or send kids to school. CVEA has produced small, pocket-sized Know Your Rights pamphlets that detail steps to take in case someone is stopped by immigration officials, as well as contact numbers for legal aid.

On a recent evening, CVEA volunteers handed out food and clothing to a small community of Indigenous farmworkers on the outskirts of Poplar. Many spoke of lost wages during the previous week. “Why are they targeting us,” one man complained. “We’re doing honest work here, trying to feed our families.”

Gregorio says half of what people earn here typically goes to cover rising rents, with the other half going toward food, childcare and other expenses. “It’s impossible,” he says.

As for the mood among neighbors and customers, “It is the same conversation with everyone you meet,” he said. “How are you?” “Scared.”

Via: Manuel Ortiz, Ed Kissam and Nicolás Díaz Magaloni contributed reporting for this story.
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

FWN announces its 2025-2026  Global Ambassadors

Next Post

‘Second responders’–concerns mount over abuse of immigrant workers in LA fire recovery

Related Posts

What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?
Community

Despite higher Covid risk, pregnant women are now ineligible for vaccine

June 6, 2025
What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?
Community

Over 200 ralliers demand Newsom fund domestic violence victims

June 6, 2025
What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?
Community

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2025 Migration Advocacy and Media (MAM) Awards

June 6, 2025
Next Post

‘Second responders’–concerns mount over abuse of immigrant workers in LA fire recovery

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Recent News

Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance
News

Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

by Ver Bermudez
June 6, 2025
0

The anticipated impeachment trial of Vice-president Sara Duterte-Carpio suddenly hangs in the balance as the Senate further postponed the proceedings...

Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

June 6, 2025
Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

June 6, 2025
What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?

Despite higher Covid risk, pregnant women are now ineligible for vaccine

June 6, 2025
What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?

Over 200 ralliers demand Newsom fund domestic violence victims

June 6, 2025
The Filipino American Post

© 2025
THE FILIPINO AMERICAN POST

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • NEWS
    • PH News
    • World News
  • COMMUNITY
  • EVENTS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • SPORTS
  • OPINION
  • LIFESTYLE
    • Business
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    • Arts & Culture
  • ONLINE NEWSPAPER

© 2025
THE FILIPINO AMERICAN POST