Bakersfield, California – In a nondescript car park, a memorial with orange marigolds and prayer candles has been erected in honour of recently deceased labour organiser and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta. Huerta was a well-known figure in California’s Central Valley, where she helped found the United Farm Workers union (UFW) and win better wages and working conditions for migrant and Latino labourers, who were vital to the state’s huge agricultural sector in the 1960s and 1970s. The term “si, se puede”, coined by Huerta and translating to “yes, it can be done”, has also been placed on the display of a local theatre in her honour.
If Huerta represents a tradition of social and economic justice and labour organising that continues to resonate, an uptick in immigration raids across the valley over the last month has underscored the degree to which insecurity, both economic and political, remains a stubborn reality for many of the region’s agricultural workers. Since early October, federal immigration agents, often masked and in unmarked vehicles, have fanned out across the Central Valley as part of a 45-day effort titled “Operation Save California” by the Trump administration. Those raids, part of the administration’s mass deportation campaign, have become a flashpoint in the race for California’s 22nd congressional district, one of several contests in the state that Democrats hope will help deliver them a majority in the United States House of Representatives in the midterm elections on November 3.
While Republican incumbent David Valadao has been a fixture of the Central Valley for years, winning six of his last seven races, progressive challenger Randy Villegas is seeking to capitalise on popular frustration over the rising cost of living, healthcare cuts and immigration raids. In a small building down the road from the Huerta memorial in Bakersfield, one day before the election, a room full of volunteers chant her slogan, encouraged by labour leaders and Democratic representatives such as California Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, before they knock on doors. Immigration authorities say the raids have targeted criminals and deny that they are racially discriminatory.
These are hard-working, long-term members of our communities being unlawfully targeted simply for looking Latino and working class,” Teresa Romero, president of the UFW, whose members have campaigned for Villegas, said in a statement on October 10. The only thing he has done is work.” She adds that her four children, all of whom are citizens born in the US, became anxious after the incident, and that some now begin to cry when they hear a knock at the door and fear that their mother will be taken away as well. Local officials say such stories have reverberated through their communities.
Villegas has drawn a link between the raids and Valadao’s vote in favour of a bill that is set to transform ICE, often accused of excessive force and disregard for civil liberties in its operations, into the most well-funded law enforcement agency in the country. Asked about the impact of the raids in a debate with Villegas in early October, Valadao responded by mirroring the government’s claims that many of those targeted have criminal backgrounds and that “it is what it is.” As Republicans and Democrats jostle for control of the House, the race has also received national attention. Prominent figures such as leftist Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson have visited in recent months to rally in support of their respective candidates.
Labour organisations, such as UFW, have also mobilised members to knock doors for Villegas. But polls suggest a tight race between Valadao and Villegas, even after a partisan redistricting measure passed by California voters in 2025 resulted in a series of newly drawn maps, including parts of the 22nd district, meant to favour Democrats. Valadao has proven himself to be a resilient candidate.
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