Bakersfield, CA – The United Farm Workers (UFW) and several individuals have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), challenging the legality of a Border Patrol operation that took place in January 2025 across Kern County and surrounding areas. The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the ACLU and the law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters, alleges that Border Patrol’s “Operation Return to Sender” violated constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and coerced individuals into unlawful deportations.
The lawsuit describes how, in early January 2025, Border Patrol agents traveled “over 300 miles north to Bakersfield to launch ‘Operation Return to Sender’—a nearly weeklong sweep through predominantly Latino areas of Kern County and the surrounding region to stop, detain, and arrest people of color who appeared to be farm workers or day laborers, regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances.” The filing states that agents stopped individuals without reasonable suspicion, arrested them without warrants, and transported them to the El Centro Border Patrol station without informing their families or providing legal representation.“‘Operation Return to Sender’ tore families apart and terrorized the community. It also violated the law,” the lawsuit states. According to the complaint, the Fourth Amendment prohibits such detentions without reasonable suspicion, and federal law “prohibits immigration officers, including Border Patrol agents, from making indiscriminate arrests without a warrant.” The filing further alleges that “Border Patrol planned and executed these tactics at a large scale,” with reports suggesting that close to 200 people were affected by the operation.
Among the plaintiffs is Wilder Munguia Esquivel, who was standing outside a Home Depot with a group of day laborers on January 7, 2025, when he was approached by Border Patrol agents. According to the lawsuit, the agents “did not identify themselves” and when Munguia Esquivel tried to leave, an agent “followed him and ordered him to turn around so he could be handcuffed.” The complaint states that Munguia Esquivel “affirmatively exercised his right to remain silent,” but an agent “grabbed him by the arm, searched him, and arrested him.”
Another plaintiff, Yolanda Aguilera Martinez, a lawful permanent resident, was allegedly stopped on January 8, 2025, and presented her valid California driver’s license to Border Patrol agents. The lawsuit states that the agents “ordered her out of her car, threw her to the ground, and arrested her.”
Juan Vargas Mendez, a longtime Kern County resident and father of four U.S.-citizen children, was pulled over while returning home from work in the fields. The complaint states that Border Patrol agents “mocked” him, calling him and a co-worker “Mexican bitches,” and when he pleaded that he had lived in Kern County for 20 years, the agents allegedly responded, “We don’t care. You’re going to Mexico anyway.”
The lawsuit further alleges that Border Patrol detained individuals in harsh conditions at the El Centro Station, where they were pressured into signing voluntary departure forms. The filing states that detainees were held in “frigid holding cells without access to sleeping quarters, showers, hygiene products, or sufficient food,” and were “denied requests to call attorneys or family members.”
The complaint highlights the case of Maria Guadalupe Hernandez Espinoza, who initially refused voluntary departure and repeatedly requested to see an immigration judge. The lawsuit states that Border Patrol agents misled her into signing a document, telling her that “her signature was needed to confirm her identity.” The next day, she was expelled to Mexico and was handed a document “she had never seen” before—confirming her forced voluntary departure.
Another plaintiff, Oscar Morales Cisneros, was detained for several days and alleges that Border Patrol agents told him “voluntary departure would allow him to ‘fix his status’” and would “not affect him in the future.” The complaint states that these claims were false, as voluntary departure can result in a years-long bar on reentry to the United States.
The lawsuit states that the effects of “Operation Return to Sender” were felt beyond those arrested, affecting entire communities. “Media outlets reported that in the immediate aftermath of Border Patrol’s raids, agricultural fields were deserted and school attendance dipped, as farm workers and their families feared being profiled by Border Patrol agents.”
The complaint alleges that “Border Patrol flaunts ‘Operation Return to Sender’ as a success” and has stated that it intends to replicate the operation in Fresno, Sacramento, and throughout California.
The plaintiffs, including UFW, seek an injunction to stop Border Patrol from conducting future immigration sweeps that violate constitutional protections. “Unless this Court intervenes to stop Defendants from continuing their unlawful practices, Plaintiffs, UFW’s members, and countless other Central Valley residents—regardless of their immigration status—will continue to be subjected to Border Patrol’s lawless sweeps, indiscriminate arrests, and coercive expulsions,” the lawsuit states.
The case, United Farm Workers et al. v. Kristi Noem et al., has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
