KERN COUNTY, CALIF. – One month after a surprise U.S. Border Patrol operation sowed chaos across Kern County and the larger San Joaquin Valley, the Department of Homeland Security is being sued for alleged rights violations.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the United Farm Workers and five Bakersfield residents are suing the agency and seeking to urge the agency comply with constitutional and federal laws.
Border patrol officials dubbed the January operation “Return to Sender.” They said it resulted in 80 arrests that were “targeted” against people with criminal warrants. But witnesses and advocates told KVPR at the time the agency appeared to use racial profiling tactics when they detained dozens of farmworkers and day laborers in high-traffic areas across Kern County. Advocates estimate at least 200 people were detained during the operation.
“They stopped us because we look Latino or like farmworkers, because of the color of our skin. It was unfair,” Maria Hernandez Espinoza, a plaintiff in the lawsuit who was detained and later deported, said through a statement shared by the ACLU. “I hope our rights are protected so that all workers can work and live in peace.”
Hernandez Espinoza had lived in Kern County for 20 years. The lawsuit asks the U.S. Eastern District Court of California to return Hernandez Espinoza to the U.S. “in a manner that restores them to the legal position that they held prior to their respective voluntary departures.”
At least 40 others were deported to Mexico along with Hernandez Espinoza, according to the ACLU.
The arrests temporarily disrupted agricultural operations, like the citrus harvest, and caused some families to keep their children home from school. One video shared with the Bakersfield news station KGET showed agents detaining a U.S. citizen who accused border patrol agents on video of slashing the tires on his work truck.
“Farm workers, and all our neighbors in Kern County, should have the right to move, work, and live free from fear,” said UFW President Teresa Romero after the lawsuit was filed.
The lawsuit argues that Border Patrol agents violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of those who were detained.
Agents are accused in the lawsuit of misleading those who were detained about their rights if they asked for a court hearing. Advocates with the ACLU said this was an attempt to have them sign voluntary deportation agreements.
The arrests happened in the waning days of the Biden administration and came under the direction of the chief border patrol agent for the El Centro Sector, Gregory Bovino, who “went rogue,” according to the Los Angeles Times. He later suggested similar operations would take place farther north, in cities like Fresno and Sacramento.
Bovino is named in the lawsuit, along with Michael Banks, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Pete Flores, acting commission of the U.S. Border Patrol, and Kristi Noem, Trump’s Secretary of Department of Homeland Security.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s administration has continued to push rhetoric about mass deportations, even going as far as opening a migrant center in Guantanamo Bay to process those who are detained. The ACLU has also sued over those actions.
Ajay Krishnan, an attorney in the Kern County case, said the lawsuit seeks to address “illegal practices” during enforcement operations.
“Border Patrol traveled 300 miles from the border to round up people based on skin color—which is itself unacceptable,” Krishnan said. “But the agents' behavior here—smashing windows, slashing tires, throwing a grandmother to the ground, arresting her, and then letting her go after seeing her green card—is beyond the pale.”
