But in an interview with Fresnoland on Friday morning, Arias said a source told him that officials changed their plans and will not conduct large-scale raids in Bakersfield and Fresno at this time. Fresnoland could not independently verify that federal immigration enforcement agencies ever posted on social media about plans to conduct mass operations in the Central Valley, and Arias did not respond to a request to elaborate on the referenced social media post. <\/p>\n
Representatives for ICE and U.S. Border Patrol did not respond to a request for comment as of Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
In an emailed statement to Fresnoland, Mayor Jerry Dyer said that he is \u201cnot aware of any organized or planned operations that will be conducted in Fresno by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It is generally not their practice to notify city officials, to include law enforcement of upcoming operations.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arias also referenced in his comments Thursday the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good<\/a>, a 37-year-old mother of three who was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week. He said that he wanted to share the post to prepare community members for the possibility of large-scale raids and, for those who are protesting, to urge them to remain peaceful.<\/p>\n Never miss the top stories in Fresno \u2014 sign up for our free, daily newsletter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe news we\u2019re seeing across the country is that immigration enforcement has taken a whole new level of aggression by ICE,\u201d Arias said during the meeting.<\/p>\n In Fresno, protests drew hundreds of people on Jan. 8 at immigration enforcement offices downtown<\/a> and on Jan. 11 at River Park<\/a>. At the Jan. 8 protest, the Fresno Police Department\u2019s traffic division stopped cars to allow protesters safe passage across downtown. There was no reported police presence at the Jan. 11 protest.<\/p>\n Protests over the killing of Good also prompted some local conservative leaders to speak out in support of ICE<\/a> at a news conference Tuesday, where Fresno County supervisors and others called on elected officials nationwide to back the agency amid reports of increased attacks against it.<\/p>\n In response to county leaders\u2019 move, a handful of immigrant rights\u2019 organizations held a press conference<\/a> Friday outside the Hall of Records calling on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to acknowledge the documented harms caused by ICE\u2019s escalation in enforcement and improve transparency and oversight.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not Arias\u2019 first claim warning Fresno residents about potential federal immigration raids that hasn\u2019t materialized. Last June, Arias cited an undisclosed source who he said previously told him<\/a> that ICE agents were planning a \u201cmassive immigration raid\u201d at the Cherry Auction. Arias did not provide evidence supporting that earlier claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Lourdes Medina, advocacy and communications associate with SIREN, speaking at the press conference on Friday outside the Hall of Records. Gisselle Medina | Fresnoland<\/p>\n