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WATCH: ‘People Are Panicking. They’re Not Coming Out of Their Homes.’
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Restaurants, stores, and farms are empty as deportation fears mount across America. We went to New York and California to see how daily life has changed.

From coast to coast, in cities and on farms, people are feeling the impact of President Trump’s mass deportations. In New York last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on raids targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. The Free Press’s Ben Kawaller took the occasion to visit Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem, where nearly half the population is Latino, and found out that Trump’s new sweep has left some residents afraid to go outside.

Meanwhile, in the agricultural hub of Bakersfield, California, The Free Press’s Austyn Jeffs saw a similar picture. Here, though, immigrant anxiety predates Trump’s inauguration: U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents launched “Operation Return to Sender” in early January, which nabbed undocumented sex offenders—but also undocumented community members without criminal records, who were detained and given a year to leave the country. At the local Latin market, Austyn found thinner than normal crowds; undocumented residents have become “absolutely terrified” to leave their homes.

A CBP spokesperson responded to inquiries about Operation Return to Sender with the following statement: “The U.S. Border Patrol conducts targeted enforcement arrests of individuals involved in smuggling throughout our areas of operation as part of our efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations.”

Watch Austyn’s video report here:

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