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Taft residents report ICE operations, ask council to denounce racial profiling and meet with community
Summary
Residents and community leaders told the Taft City Council on Tuesday that immigration enforcement operations in the area caused fear, school absences and business closures. Speakers urged the council not to assist enforcement without a warrant, to issue a public statement and to hold a follow-up meeting with affected residents.
Public commenters told the Taft City Council at its February meeting that recent immigration enforcement activity in and around ZIP code 93268 has generated fear among residents, prompted school absences and led some local businesses to close.
The comments included personal accounts and calls for the council to refuse cooperation with federal agents unless they present warrants. Duane Klotz, a retired educator, said federal agents stopped people “simply at random” and that some were “sworn at, cursed, and questioned.” He said the encounters felt “un-American” and “blatantly unconstitutional.”
Gladys Flores, program director for Centro de Unidad Popular Benito Juarez, said her organization’s clients and other residents are “scared” and described the encounters as racial profiling. “Our community was targeted,”…
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