ICE Is Making an Example of California

Late
Monday afternoon, Caravello was released from federal detention. Unusually, federal prosecutors did not
announce the charges against him until Sunday, and when they did, it was in a post on X by Bill Essayli, the interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. The same office is pursuing federal charges against an
activist who brought face shields to distribute at a protest, to protect people
from chemical agents used by police. In the Department of Justice, such
overreach is now par for the course: The day after Caravello was released,
federal prosecutors in Spokane, Washington, charged
a group of protestors, including
the former city council president, for “conspiracy to impede or injure officers.”
Most of those who were charged in Spokane had merely blocked a bus carrying
people whom ICE had detained, a type of intervention we are seeing now across U.S. cities. “This
politically motivated action is a perversion of our justice system,” said
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown. In bringing such specious prosecutions, the Trump
administration is hunting for ways to criminalize people who oppose the ICE
raids, including those engaging in nonviolent self-defense.

Protestors
are not a monolith. In opposing the raids, they offer a range of arguments and
tactics. Some defend the contributions of immigrant workers. Some do practical
work like documenting ICE raids. But the point of these raids is to demonstrate
that no one, no matter what they contribute to the community, will be spared arrest.
In fact, some, including citizens and elected officials, were targeted precisely for their contributions. Ultimately, neither “good” immigrants nor “good” protestors can use their goodness as a shield from ICE’s violence. 

Trump’s
campaign of “mass deportations” was never just about carrying out more
immigration raids. We knew this campaign would reach far beyond those
immigrants who are living in the country without authorization—not just because
the number of people he said would be deported exceeds the numbers of undocumented,
but because his plans also involve making more and more people deportable. Sure
enough, some of the workers who were detained in the July 10 raids were
citizens, the United Farm Workers said in a statement. George Restes, a
disabled veteran and American citizen, was arrested and held for three days without a
phone call, he said, and without treatment after agents pepper sprayed him. These detentions may have been aimed
at managing perceptions of the raid. The UFW pointed out that many of those
detained reported being released only “after they were forced to delete photos
and videos of the raid from their phones.”

ICE’s
project goes well beyond the violent scenes of the raids: It has transformed
everyday life in California. Family pets are filling Southern California
shelters, given up
by owners who have been forced to leave the United States. At a Glendale
hospital, ICE agents camped out for days, scaring people away from seeking
care; National Nurses United shared Know Your Rights guides for all
health care workers. Countless children are left waiting for parents to return,
like 16-year-old Alexa, whose pregnant mother was arrested Thursday, forcing Alexa to become
the caretaker for her younger siblings until
their mother returns. Other family members of missing
workers, including their young children, went to the farm the next day, hoping
to be reunited. The family of Jaime Alanís, one of the workers gravely injured
in the chaotic raid, reunited with him in the hospital, where he died on
Saturday. His surviving family members have said that he will be brought to
Huajumbaro, Michoacán, his hometown: “His wife and daughter are waiting for him.”