Operation Safe California drew new attention across the Central Valley after Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco said eight city residents had been detained over the past two days. On Thursday, elected officials gathered at Fresno City Hall as reports of ICE activity increased and families pressed for answers about where detainees were being taken.
Maria Pacheco in Kerman
Pacheco’s count gave the reports a clear local impact: eight Kerman city residents detained in two days. Around the same time, Action News observed several men being released from the ICE office in downtown Fresno, while a Department of Homeland Security van and an unmarked vehicle were outside the office on Thursday.
Fresno City Hall on Thursday
At Fresno City Hall, leaders focused on transparency and access. Parlier Mayor Alma Beltran asked, “How do you answer a child that is in fear of what's gonna happen to their parents?” Jim Costa said, “There's no oversight. There's no guardrails. They refuse to respond to any questions that we ask. They don't tell us when and where they're going for these searches,” while Esmeralda Soria said, “No one should be targeted because of the color of their skin, the language they speak, their accent, or their last name.”
Jim Costa and Tom McClintock
Costa argued that federal officials had restricted oversight and visitation at detention facilities, raising the access dispute at the center of the discussion. McClintock answered, “I don't know what more transparency there is than the plain law that says that a person who is in this country illegally shall be detained and shall be deported,” and added that detainees ultimately control whether they remain in custody.
Central Valley detention reports
The reported ICE goal of 3,000 arrests per day nationwide would amount to about 19,000 arrests a week, a pace far above a routine local enforcement action. For families in Kerman, Parlier, and Fresno, the immediate need is practical: know who was detained, where they were taken, and which local office is handling questions while leaders continue pressing for answers.
