Community advocates gathered Friday outside the Fresno County Board of Supervisors building downtown to denounce recent comments by county leaders supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Advocates accused the supervisors of downplaying the fear and harm immigration raids have inflicted on families across the Central Valley.

“It is finally showing the sun out here in the Central Valley,” said Lourdes Medina, a communications organizer with the Services Immigrant Rights and Education Network, as she opened the news conference on the northwest corner of Tulare Street.

The group convened days after Supervisors Garry Bredefeld, Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes joined other officials at a Tuesday news conference urging leaders nationwide to condemn attacks on ICE agents and publicly support law enforcement. 

Medina described Friday’s event as a unified response from community organizations, faith groups, and residents. 

“We stand with our communities in the pursuit of dignity, respect and the fundamental right to live free from fear,” she said, adding that the coalition’s work is “rooted in providing resources, education and support to advance immigrant rights, social justice and meaningful civic participation.”

Immigration Advocate Accuses ICE of Violating Constitution

While emphasizing nonviolence, Medina accused ICE of repeated constitutional violations. 

“Over the past year, we have witnessed repeated instances in which ICE agents have disregarded constitutional protection, including First Amendment rights  in both sanctuary and non-sanctuary jurisdiction,” she said, arguing the consequences reach beyond immigrants. 

Tuesday’s supervisors’ media event — held at the Fresno County Hall of Records — framed ICE agents as facing growing hostility during enforcement operations. Bredefeld blamed California’s sanctuary law, SB 54, saying it forces federal agents to arrest people in neighborhoods rather than in jail settings. 

“If not for sanctuary policies, criminals would be handed over to ICE in jail settings,” Bredefeld said, arguing such policies push ICE into the community to “get these animals.” 

Asked by reporters about concerns in immigrant communities, Bredefeld dismissed the idea that ICE is “sweeping up innocent people.” “I don’t buy the premise,” he said, and added he was not aware of any active ICE operations in Fresno County. 

Related Story: Fresno County Officials Condemn Attacks on ICE, Urge Support for Law

A Dangerous Denial of Reality

At Friday’s news conference, speakers directly contested that framing. Sukaina Hussain, deputy director of strategic initiatives at the California Immigrant Policy Center, said the supervisors’ remarks “blatantly disregard the real-world fear, trauma, and loss that immigrant families are experiencing every single day.”

“These supervisors have demonstrated a profound disconnect from the communities that they were elected to serve. Immigrant families here in the Central Valley are the lifeline of our key industries, including agriculture, health care, and hospitality,” said Hussain.

“To claim that ICE is not causing harm is a dangerous denial of a well-documented reality,” Hussain said. “Lives are at stake, and lives have been lost at the hands of ICE.”

Data Undercuts ‘Criminal’ Narrative

Hussain pointed to recent national incidents and broader trends in detention. Independent national tracking of ICE custody suggests that a large majority of people held in immigration detention have no criminal conviction.

As of Nov. 30, 2025, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse  a research group at Syracuse University that compiles immigration enforcement data, reported 65,735 people in ICE detention of whom 48,377 (73.6%) had no criminal conviction. That leaves 17,358 (26.4%) with a criminal conviction, though TRAC notes many convictions are minor, including traffic offenses. 

Advocates also pointed to cases where immigration agents detained people who were, in fact, U.S. citizens. The federal government does not publish a comprehensive tally of citizens detained by immigration agents, but a ProPublica investigation published in October reported it identified more than 170 cases in which U.S. citizens were detained during raids and protests in 2025. 

“These indiscriminate and hateful immigration raids not only jeopardize our economy, they also fragment our community,” Hussain said. “This is not about public safety. This is an attack on our Constitution and on our due process rights. It affects all of us, immigrants and citizens alike.”

‘Our Community Is Not a Campaign Prop’

Brenda Ordaz Garcia of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights sharpened the political critique, invoking Martin Luther King Jr. ahead of the holiday weekend. 

“It is deeply troubling to hear Fresno County supervisor publicly call for support for ICE,” she said, describing the agency’s actions as tearing families apart and traumatizing communities. 

“Calling for more ICE presence does not make our neighborhood safer,” Ordez added. “It makes parents afraid to take their children to school. It makes workers afraid to report wage theft. It makes victims of domestic violence afraid to call for help.”

Knowing and Exercising Constitutional Rights

Mario Gonzalez, executive director of the Education and Leadership Foundation, urged residents to learn and exercise constitutional rights, including recording encounters with law enforcement in public. 

“The Constitution protects us all. It doesn’t matter if we’ve been here a day, we’ve been here our whole life, he said. 

Gonzalez argued that widespread video cellphone documentation has changed what communities can prove about enforcement tactics. 

“It is because of our community members who are recording on a regular basis that we know this is occurring,” he said.

Speakers repeatedly called on the board to acknowledge the harm advocates say ICE enforcement has caused, commit to public transparency and oversight, and protect civil rights regardless of immigration status. Medina told the crowd that community groups have built “know your rights” workshops and rapid response systems, work she said distracts from other community needs. The coalition urged residents to contact their supervisors and demand dialogue.

“Our community deserves leadership rooted in compassion,” Hussain said, “not leaders who use their platforms to praise a rogue agency.”

They Forget Who Voted for Them

Firebaugh City Councilmember Felipe Gonzalez, speaking in English and Spanish, said the supervisors’ comments reflected a failure of representation. 

“It is interesting how our supervisors forget who voted for them,” Gonzalez said. “They forget that they are here for the greater good of the people. They forget that our people are important.”

Gonzalez said county leaders were serving only a narrow segment of residents while ignoring the broader community. “We have all been betrayed,” he said. “I am not angry — I am disappointed.”

Emphasizing unity, Gonzalez added, “We are all from this community. Nobody breathes different air or drinks different water. We are all the same. We are all immigrants.”