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Resident Ron Merkord says ICE enforcement is 'terrorizing' Fillmore community
Summary
Local resident Ron Merkord urged the council to hold a stakeholder meeting after reporting an increase in ICE activity. He asserted 17 Fillmore detentions since 2025 and cited countywide figures; no council response or staff action was recorded in the meeting.
Ron Merkord, a resident who said he lives on a ranch in Bardsdale, addressed the council during public comment and described what he said were mounting ICE enforcement actions affecting Fillmore families.
Merkord said that ICE detained someone in downtown Fillmore that morning and claimed that “that brings the total for Fillmore to 17 people that have been detained since the beginning of 2025.” He also stated an approximate countywide figure, saying there have been “about 850 abductions by ICE in our county of 840,000 people,” and warned that the numbers were increasing. He described the effect on businesses and residents, saying the enforcement was creating fear and “terror” in the community and urged the council to convene a stakeholder meeting to consider support for affected families.
Council members thanked Merkord for his comment; no substantive motion, formal staff direction or staff response addressing the specific figures was recorded in the meeting transcript.
