“I think it will backfire, that is what many of us are trying to mobilize our community,” state assemblymember Soria said.
In one of the most watched Congressional races of the country that is central to which party will take control in 2027, it’s thought that Latinos will decide the election.
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In the lead-up to the election, the Trump administration reportedly initiated a brutal 45 day Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surge, known internally “Operation Safe California”, reportedly aimed at every single non-authorized person in California.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to admit to the surge, citing the “safety” of their officers, but the Washington Examiner reported in an exclusive that “ICE leadership has told officers to arrest all illegal immigrants they encounter, regardless of whether an individual has a criminal history.”
The district is currently represented by ICE-enabling incumbent David Valadao (R), who is running against Randy Villegas (D). Valadao has misleadingly claimed the raids are focused on criminals and immigrants with active warrants.
However, the operation has terrified residents and caused them to fear leaving their homes. The streets are eerily empty in San Joaquin Valley. The family members of one worker who has been in the US for 49 years and was disappeared by ICE in this latest surge have faced “a barrage of online harassment, according to her daughter,” even though they are US citizens.
This suggests the harassment is not just from the ICE officers. Trump’s digital cult (no doubt some of them are bots, but led by the loudest and most unhinged commentators on the Right) is accused of terrorizing family members of victims of ICE surges.
And why is that?
Dirty Midterm Election Tricks
"They are trying to do anything they can to suppress the vote and rig the election," State Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria warned in an interview with SFGATE.
“I have never experienced anything like this,” the lawmaker in the lower house of the California State Legislature said. “Just all of a sudden, now we’re seeing ICE go rogue.”
The conclusion that ICE has gone rogue across California’s Central Valley in an effort to suppress the midterm vote in Congressional District 22 is also shared by Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez, a manager at a faith-based nonprofit that helps immigrant families entangled in the raids.
“People are afraid to leave their house,” Zaragoza-Yáñez said in a phone interview with SFGATE on Friday. “They are afraid to take their kids to school. They have numerous calls from families asking if it is safe to take my kid to school.”
Additionally, Randy Villegas, the Democratic opponent of the incumbent Republican, told SFGATE that the raids are clearly aimed at suppressing the vote, saying: “This is the most Latino district in California, and what we’re seeing right now is a blatant attempt to try to suppress the vote.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has also strongly condemned reported pre-election ICE surges, accusing the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement to terrorize diverse communities and suppress the vote.
“Donald Trump is using fear and panic as a weapon — putting families at risk, undermining our economy, and terrorizing communities,” Newsom wrote on Twitter/X. “No President is above the Constitution. No one in this country is without rights. California will stand up for our communities and hold federal agents accountable. Know your rights and exercise them safely.”
Local immigrant advocates reported ICE raids that included “widespread, warrantless detentions, targeting gas stations and Mexican bakeries as farmworkers start their day. People have reportedly been detained without any warrants for their arrest.”
Latinos are afraid to leave their homes and many are keeping their children out of school.