Fresno Bishop Warns ICE Raids Creating 'Fear' in Valley Families, Calls Federal Enforcement 'Indiscriminate' — Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fresno Bishop Warns ICE Raids Creating ‘Fear’ in Valley Families, Calls Federal Enforcement ‘Indiscriminate’
Bishop Joseph Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno issued a pastoral letter this week warning that federal immigration raids across California’s Central Valley are creating “unrest, anxiety and even fear” among families in his diocese, with priests reporting that parishioners “have been taken away abruptly and with little or no information coming from federal agents.”
“Even if you have not been personally affected by the increased immigration enforcement in our region, many of those who sit alongside you in the pews have been affected, with some already having been detained,” Brennan wrote. His diocese covers a large portion of the southern Central Valley.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have not announced any specific operations targeting California or the Central Valley. However, local media have reported a surge in enforcement in recent weeks. A DHS spokesperson declined to confirm any operation, citing “operational security and the safety of our officers,” and said only that “every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country including in California.”
“It breaks my heart,” Brennan wrote. “Many of those caught up in this recent immigration enforcement in our Valley are not strangers to us — they are family, neighbors, and parishioners who are being uprooted from the lives they have built over many years among us.”
Brennan described the enforcement as appearing “indiscriminate,” saying “it is frightening to them and disturbing to us that these current operations seem to have taken on an indiscriminate nature with little regard for the dignity of the human person.” He noted that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted 216-5 in 2025 to oppose “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”
The DHS spokesperson defended the enforcement, saying “to most Americans our ICE officers are heroes as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists.” The spokesperson provided a list of five people labeled “public safety threats” arrested in California, including people convicted of vehicular manslaughter, aggravated assault with a gun, burglary, homicide, and selling drugs.
Brennan said the Catholic Church “will not be silent” and “will accompany our vulnerable neighbors in concrete, sustained ways,” including “walking with families through long and complicated legal proceedings, showing up at immigration court, organizing transportation and childcare, and refusing to let anyone face this situation alone.”
“Our country and our elected officials must do better,” Brennan wrote, calling for “tangible results that reflect meaningful and just immigration reform.”
The Breakdown
- Bishop Brennan’s letter describes a reported surge in ICE enforcement in Fresno and the Central Valley, with priests reporting that parishioners have been detained with little information provided.
- DHS and ICE have not announced any specific operation targeting the region and declined to discuss enforcement details.
- Brennan characterizes the enforcement as “indiscriminate” and says it appears to show “little regard for the dignity of the human person.”
- A DHS spokesperson defended the enforcement as targeting “public safety threats” and provided a list of five people arrested in California with convictions including homicide, assault, and drug offenses.
- The diocese is organizing support including legal accompaniment, court appearances, transportation, and childcare for affected families.
What This Means for You
Bishop Brennan’s letter describes families being “uprooted from the lives they have built over many years” in enforcement he calls “indiscriminate.” DHS defends the operations as targeting “murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists.” Those two framings — broad community disruption versus targeted public-safety enforcement — represent fundamentally different views of what federal immigration enforcement is actually doing in the Central Valley.
What You Can Do
If you or someone you know has been affected by immigration enforcement, the Diocese of Fresno is organizing support including help with legal proceedings, court accompaniment, transportation, and childcare.
What to Watch
Bishop Brennan says the enforcement appears “indiscriminate” and priests report people being detained “abruptly and with little or no information.” DHS says it targets “public safety threats” and provided a list of five California arrests of people convicted of serious crimes. The material does not state whether the people Brennan’s priests are reporting detained are the same people DHS describes, or different ones — and that gap is the entire question.
The material provides DHS’s framing and the bishop’s framing, but no independent breakdown of who is actually being detained in this specific operation. DHS provided five selected examples but no comprehensive information about the operation.
