A car window shattered, glass scattered across the road, and a woman taken away — that is how Alexis Reyna described watching an Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest unfold in Wasco. It is the kind of scene that has become more common across Kern County in recent weeks, as rapid-response volunteers say the number of calls reporting ICE activity has climbed sharply since the start of October.
Reyna said witnessing the arrest in person left her shaken. “It's scary, it's really scary right now,” she said, describing the encounter as loud and sudden, according to KGET 17 News. The outlet reports that ICE arrests have increased rapidly over just a few weeks, leaving many people fearful even inside their own homes.
Kern Rapid Response, a volunteer network that fields community calls about ICE sightings, has reported that 10 to 20 individuals have been detained by the agency in Kern County, per KGET. Rosa Lopez, with the network, said calls reporting ICE activity have increased by at least double or triple since the beginning of October. In Arvin, residents have taken to checking in with one another on where ICE officers might be at any given moment, the station reports.
Fear Spreads Through Wasco And Beyond
Karla Hernandez, who lives in Wasco, said she believes people are being targeted because of their skin color, nationality, Hispanic identity and immigrant status. Hernandez urged people to vote to remove those she believes are responsible for the fear spreading through her community, according to the same KGET report.
The anxiety in Kern County mirrors what has been documented elsewhere across the Central Valley this month. Advocates told CalMatters that at least 100 people were detained in the San Joaquin Valley over a three-day stretch in early October, and a Fresno activist said the number of vans transporting detainees had jumped from about two a day to as many as 10 to 15. ICE declined to confirm the increased activity when asked by the outlet.
Local officials and immigrant advocacy groups told the Fresno Bee that ICE arrested more than 70 people in the Fresno area during the week of October 8, with the Rapid Response Network of Kern separately estimating more than 60 people detained in the Fresno-Madera area and parts of the Central Coast just days earlier. The Valley Watch Network confirmed ICE agents were present in Kerman, Mendota and Chowchilla, and the Bee reported that a man detained in Mendota was released after his work permit was found in his wallet, according to the United Farm Worker Foundation.
Operations Reported Across Kern County
Reports of enforcement activity have also surfaced directly in Kern County. Witnesses and social media accounts described ICE and immigration-enforcement agents conducting operations in areas around Arvin and Bakersfield, though it was not known how many people were taken into custody during those reported operations, per KGET. A report cited by the station described an unannounced effort dubbed Operation Safe California expected to last at least 45 days, though that operation has not been publicly confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security.
In response, Rapid Response volunteers have been distributing red cards to help Kern County residents understand their rights amid the reports of ICE activity, according to Turn to 23. Kern County is already home to four ICE detention facilities, the highest concentration of any county in California, and more than 2,500 detainees have passed through the county so far this year, with average stays ranging from 25 to 69 days, according to KVPR.
Protests And A Broader Pattern
The tension boiled over Tuesday night when 60 to 80 people demonstrated near Bakersfield's Padre Hotel amid rumors that ICE agents were staying there, according to Bakersfield police cited by bakersfieldnow.com; no arrests were made. Among the demonstrators was Melody Molina, who called for ICE to leave Bakersfield and the country, saying the agency is deporting hardworking people rather than criminals. Documentation of enforcement activity, through videos, photos and reports of detainments, has continued to spread across the county, KGET notes.
The surge is part of a documented statewide and national trend. ICE arrests in the San Francisco region rose nearly 70%, from 2,928 in the first seven months of 2025 to 4,970 over the same period this year, per CalMatters, while the agency averaged more than 1,580 arrests a day nationwide in July, a record for the Trump administration. More than 43,000 people were booked into detention centers nationwide in June, the highest monthly total since the president returned to office, according to the Los Angeles Times, which also found that immigrants without criminal records made up 74% of the average daily population in California's detention centers and 79% nationwide.
Similar arrests have been reported in the Coachella Valley and Ventura County, the Times reported separately, and the activity has prompted Bay Area immigration advocates and lawmakers to watch for signs that enforcement could expand into Northern California, according to KQED. Alameda County's rapid-response network said it was on alert and preparing for possible increased activity, though it had not verified specific information about operations reaching that far north.
