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Frank P. Barajas. Courtesy photo.
By Frank P. Barajas / Guest contributor
At 3 am, Wednesday, May13, 2026, in Ventura County communities, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations agents raided the homes, Gestapo style, of one former and three current VC Defensa volunteers, as well as the organization’s meeting place in downtown Oxnard.
At least twenty-armed HSI agents arrived at each place in military personnel vehicles masked with their firearms and panoplied in full body armor. The agents pounded doors, smashed windows, and battered down entrances.
With warrants, HSI agents ransacked each place and seized computers, mobile phones, and other property while the residents stood outside in the cold handcuffed. No one was arrested.
VC Defensa is an immigrant rights and support organization that consist of volunteer retirees, educators, healthcare professionals, students, people in the trades, and other civically engaged citizens of the communities of Ventura County. The organization provides legal and medical aid to immigrant and refugee populations, conducts know-your-rights workshops, and legally observes and monitors the action of Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Support VC Defensa and other like immigrant rights organizations more than ever.
For more information see:
ICE RAMS CAR OF IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ACTIVIST
And remember Pastor Martin Niemöller post-WWII statement:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller
— Frank P. Barajas is a lifetime resident of Oxnard and Professor of History, Faculty Early Retirement Program at California State University Channel Islands.
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