UFW granted preliminary injunction limiting Border Patrol on warrantless arrests, stops
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — United Farm Workers has been granted a preliminary injunction barring U.S. Border Patrol from making stops and arrests in the Eastern District of California — including Kern County — unless certain conditions are met.
Under Tuesday's order, Border Patrol agents can't stop people unless there's probable cause they're noncitizens in violation of U.S. immigration law, and they can't make warrantless arrests unless there's probable cause to believe the person will likely escape before one is obtained.
'This order rightfully upholds the law,' Teresa Romero, president of UFW, said in a release. 'Border Patrol can't just wade into communities snatching up hardworking people without due process, just for being brown and working class.'
The order issued by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston comes after UFW sued over a three-day Border Patrol operation conducted in January called 'Operation Return to Sender.'
It was designed to stop, detain and arrest people of color in and near Kern County who appeared to be farmworkers or day laborers, regardless of their immigration status, according to the complaint.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has previously told 17 News, 'Businesses that human traffic and exploit migrants for cheap labor should be afraid — we will go after them. As for law-abiding companies, the media is intentionally manufacturing fear.'
The next hearing in the case is set for June.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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