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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,” Flores said, and she asked the council to “acknowledge and to take responsibility that this is not okay for the city of Taft to continue.”
Saul Acosta, president of the Taft College Associated Student Organization, described students who have stopped attending classes out of fear. “The right to an education should not be dictated by fear,” Acosta said, and asked the council to support measures that protect students’ ability to attend school.
Daniel Rodela, a community organizer with Faith in the Valley, urged the council to issue a public statement and to meet with community leaders. Rodela told the council that “over 30 percent of students from the top city and top union high school districts missed class” the previous day and said local districts lose roughly $50 per absent student per day; he also reported “over 20 local businesses closed” during the enforcement activity.
Other speakers gave personal or historical context. Cecilia Alvarado described a family deportation she said occurred in 1910 and said current operations have revived community fear. Hector Hernandez, identified as an executive director with a local community organization, said city meetings lack Spanish-language agendas and interpreters and urged the council to comply with Title VI obligations so Spanish-speaking residents can participate.
Speakers asked the council to do three things: (1) refuse to assist immigration enforcement unless agents show legal warrants or probable cause, (2) publicly acknowledge the community’s concerns and (3) meet with representatives of affected neighborhoods to identify next steps. Council members thanked the speakers and said they appreciated the input; the meeting record shows no formal council action, vote or directive on those requests during the open session.
The public comments came during the council’s general public comment period when state law allows residents to address the council on matters within its jurisdiction. Several speakers cited constitutional protections — the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments — when describing their concerns about searches or detentions without warrants.
The council did not adopt a statement or schedule a follow-up meeting during the session. Several community leaders present said they remain willing to meet and to collaborate with city officials to pursue local protections and to clarify what assistance, if any, the city will provide to federal agents in future operations.
