ICE raids and protests continues as claims of local raids are still unverified

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Communities across the state are gripped by fear as a wave of ICE raids leads to detentions of immigrant families and spark protests

"They're ripping parents from children, workers from jobs and neighbors from neighborhoods. They're taking innocent people who are trying to build their own American dream," says Daniel Larios, who lives just miles from the epicenter of protests in the streets of Los Angeles.

He works with the United Farm Workers Foundation, which has a strong presence in the Central Valley.

Daniel's colleague, Maybe Hernandez, is an immigrant herself.

"Of course I understand there are people who have done bad things, but not all of us are criminals, and of course it's emotional, you know," expresses Maybe.

Although ICE has claimed to be targeting criminals, there have been reports of workers without criminal records being detained.

President Trump addressed those concerns Thursday morning, saying, "We can't take farmers and take all their people and send them back because they don't have what they're supposed to have."

RELATED: Trump says changes are coming to ICE raid policy: 'We must protect our farmers'

He continues, "I think we can't do that to our farmers and leisure too, hotels, uh, we're gonna have to use a lot of common sense on that."

Farm bureaus in Tulare, Fresno, and Kern Counties say no ICE raids have been confirmed in our area.

But that hasn't stopped the fear.

"It's a hard, hard time for our community. We know that certain rights are being violated," says Mario Gonzalez of the Education and Leadership Foundation in Fresno.

He reminds people that they do have rights, "The right to be silent and not answer, not incriminate yourself, the right to not be searched without a warrant."

Local non-profits are also providing legal services for those who need them.

The Education Leadership Foundation can be found here. The United Farm Workers Foundation can be found here.

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