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‘Fields were solitary’: Migration raids send chill across rural California

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‘Fields were solitary’: Migration raids send chill across rural California

Los Angeles, California — Recent raids carried out by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a rural California county have struck fear into immigrant communities as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House.

CBP says that the operation in Kern County, which took place over three days in early January, resulted in the detention of 78 people. The United Farm Workers (UFW) union says it believes the number is closer to 200.

“The fields were almost solitary the day after the raids,” a 38-year-old undocumented farmworker named Alejanda, who declined to give her last name, said of the aftermath.

She explained that many workers stayed home out of fear. “This time of year, the orchards are usually full of people, but it felt like I was by myself when I returned to work.”

The raids are being seen by local labourers and organisations like UFW as a shot across the bow from immigration enforcement agencies before Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

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His second term as president is expected to ring in a new era of enhanced restrictions and deportation efforts.

While the number of people arrested represents a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers underpinning California’s agricultural sector, the anxieties caused by such raids extend far beyond those detained.

“On Wednesday [the day after the raids], I stayed home from work. I barely left my house,” said Alejanda, adding that she kept her five-year-old son home from daycare rather than risk driving to drop him off.

“Everyone is talking about what happened. Everyone is afraid, including me. I didn’t actually see any of the agents myself, but you still feel the tension.”

Emboldened agencies

Following a presidential campaign where he routinely depicted undocumented migrants as “criminals” and “animals”, Trump will likely try to fulfill his promise to carry out the “largest deportation programme” in the country’s history on his first day in office.

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About 11 million people live in the United States without legal documentation, some of whom have worked in the country for decades, building families and communities.

The January arrests in Kern County appear to be the first large-scale Border Patrol raid in California since Trump’s victory in the November election, which set off speculation about the potential impact of mass deportations on immigrant communities and the economic sectors dependent on their labour.

About 50 percent of California’s agricultural workforce is made up of undocumented immigrants.

In California, undocumented status has been cited as a source of persistent anxiety for workers — as well as a means of leverage for employers, who often pay such labourers lower wages and grant them fewer protections in the fields.

But Alejanda says that workplace raids like the ones that took place in Kern County have not been common in the area.

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“I have been here for five years and never experienced anything like this before,” she said, noting that workers were detained while leaving the fields to go home.

CBP said in a statement that the operation, named “Return to Sender”, had targeted undocumented people with criminal backgrounds and connections to criminal organisations.

The raids were carried out by agents from the CBP El Centro Sector, located near the border between Mexico and southern California, more than five hours by car from the site of the raids.

“The El Centro Sector takes all border threats seriously,” Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino said in a press release. “Our area of responsibility stretches from the US/Mexico Border, north, as mission and threat dictate, all the way to the Oregon line.”

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Antonio De Loera-Brust, a spokesperson for UFW, said that the operation shows that agencies like CBP are likely to become more aggressive as Trump takes office.

He also disputed CBP’s characterisation of the raids as focused on people with criminal records, saying that the operation cast a wide net and profiled people who looked like farmworkers.

Two of those arrested were UFW members, whom the organisation described as fathers who had lived in the area for more than 15 years.

“By operating over 300 miles north of the Mexican border, and apparently conducting this untargeted sweep based on profiling on their own initiative and authority, Border Patrol has shown itself to be clearly emboldened by a national political climate of hostility towards hard-working immigrant communities,” De Loera-Brust told Al Jazeera.

“It’s certainly deeply concerning that this sort of operation could be the new normal under the incoming Trump administration.”

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Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung Crime Thriller ‘Made in Korea’ Sets Disney+ Debut

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Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung Crime Thriller ‘Made in Korea’ Sets Disney+ Debut

Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung go head-to-head in “Made in Korea,” a 1970s crime noir that launches Dec. 24 on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere.

The series stars Hyun Bin (“Crash Landing on You,” “Confidential Assignment”) as Baek Kitae, an ambitious KCIA agent in 1970s South Korea who leads a dangerous double life. By day, he works as a government operative, while by night he runs an illegal operation, using his underworld connections to consolidate power, protect his brother and generate substantial revenue for the agency.

Jung Woo-sung (“Tell Me That You Love Me,” “12.12: The Day”) co-stars as Jang Geonyoung, an incorruptible prosecutor determined to bring Kitae down. Woo Dohwan (“Bloodhounds,” “Mr. Plankton”) plays Kitae’s brother Baek Kihyun.

The series is written by Park Eunkyo (“Mother,” “A Normal Family,” “The Silent Sea”) and Park Joonseok (“A Normal Family”), directed by Woo Minho (“The Man Standing Next,” “Inside Men,” “Harbin”), and produced by Hive Media Corp (“Inside Men,” “The Man Standing Next,” “12.12: The Day”).

Following the two-episode premiere, “Made in Korea” will release two additional episodes on Dec. 31, with the final two episodes rolling out weekly through Jan. 14. The series has already been renewed for a second season, which is currently in production.

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The thriller joins Disney+’s expanding slate of Korean drama content that launched in 2025, including “Unmasked,” “Nine Puzzles,” “Hyper Knife,” “Low Life,” “The Murky Stream” and “Tempest.”

The streamer has additional Korean series slated for 2026, including “Gold Land” starring Park Boyoung, “Perfect Crown” starring IU and Byeon Wooseok, and the return of “A Shop for Killers” for a second season with Lee Dongwook and Kim Hyejun.

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Pope Leo XIV says he’s ‘very disappointed’ after Illinois approves assisted suicide law

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Pope Leo XIV says he’s ‘very disappointed’ after Illinois approves assisted suicide law

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Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was “very disappointed” after his home state of Illinois approved a law allowing medically assisted suicide.

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Leo, who grew up in Chicago, said he had spoken “explicitly” with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker while the legislation was on his desk and urged him not to sign the bill into law, saying the measure undermines respect for human life from “the very beginning to the very end.”

“Unfortunately, for different reasons, he decided to sign that bill,” Leo told reporters outside Rome. “I am very disappointed about that.”

The Medical Aid in Dying Act, also referred to as “Deb’s Law,” was signed into law by Pritzker on Dec. 12 and allows eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors.

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Pope Leo XIV met with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on Nov. 19 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

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The measure was named after Deb Robertson, a lifelong Illinois resident with a rare terminal illness who had pushed for the bill’s approval.

The law takes effect in September 2026, giving participating healthcare providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) time to implement required processes and protections.

Leo said Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich also urged Pritzker not to sign the bill, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

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Pope Leo XIV said he was very disappointed” that Illinois passed a law allowing medically assisted suicide. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

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“I would invite all people, especially in these Christmas days, to reflect upon the nature of human life, the goodness of human life,” Leo said. “God became human like us to show us what it means really to live human life, and I hope and pray that the respect for life will once again grow in all moments of human existence, from conception to natural death.”

The state’s six Catholic dioceses have also criticized Pritzker’s decision to sign the bill, saying it puts Illinois “on a dangerous and heartbreaking path.”

Illinois joins a growing list of states allowing medically assisted suicide. Eleven other states and the District of Columbia allow medically assisted suicide, according to the advocacy group, Death with Dignity, and seven other states are considering allowing it.

After signing the bill, Pritzker said the legislation would allow patients with terminal illnesses to “avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives,” and said it would be “thoughtfully implemented” to guide physicians and patients through deeply personal decisions.

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act on Dec. 12, allowing eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Pritzker’s office for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Europeans show solidarity with Denmark after Trump’s Greenland threat

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Europeans show solidarity with Denmark after Trump’s Greenland threat

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Exactly one year after Donald Trump first announced his intention to integrate Greenland into US territory on grounds of “national protection”, he’s back for more.

The US president has appointed Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as the new US special envoy for Greenland with the stated objective of “integrating Greenland into the United States” and repeated the US needs the territory for its national security.

His comments have been taken seriously by EU heads of state and government, who are presenting a united front against what they describe as American expansionist ambitions towards the autonomous territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

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France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, both responded to the announcement by reaffirming their support for the integrity of Denmark’s territory.

“Greenland belongs to its people. Denmark stands as its guarantor. I join my voice to that of Europeans in expressing our full solidarity.”

On Tuesday, Trump told reporters the United States “needs Greenland for national security, not for minerals or oil, but national security. And if you take a look at Greenland, there are Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. So, we need this for protection.”

He also chastised Denmark for what he described neglecting the territory, “they have spent no money, they have no military protection, they say Denmark arrived there 300 years ago with boats – we were there with boats too, I’m sure. We’ll have to work it all out.”

Adding to the European voices pushing back on the US ambitions and the criticism of Denmark, Commission Ursula von der Leyen insisted that “territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law”. Despite the tone coming out of Washington, she appeared to refer to the US as an ally in arctic security.

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez echoed those remarks. “Respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity is central to the EU and to all nations of the world,” he wrote on X. “Security in the Arctic is a priority in which we seek to work with allies and partners.”

The US and Denmark are part of NATO, which is supposed to ensure mutual defence in the event of aggression against one of its members. That principle has never been tested by conflict between members of the alliance if one were to seize territory from another.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has so far remained silent on the issue. During a press conference with Trump in the White House’s Oval Office in March, he also chose not to comment after a question from a journalist.

“When it comes to Greenland, if it joins the US or not, I will leave that outside of me in this discussion because I don’t want to drag NATO into that,” he said.

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