The mayor of an Inland Empire city is urging residents to stay indoors and be wary of people they do not know amid ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the area.
“Stay home and do not open the door to strangers,” Perris Mayor Michael Vargas said during a video message on Instagram.
The city posted the video in Spanish and English Wednesday after receiving reports of ICE operations in the area.
“We urge all residents to remain calm, stay indoors when possible and know your rights,” Vargas said. “Do not go out unless necessary.”
Roughly 78% of the Riverside County city’s 83,000 residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“This message is for awareness and safety,” Vargas said. “The city is committed to protecting the dignity and well-being of all our residents.”
In a statement to The Times on Friday, Vargas said, “It’s unfortunate to see masked agents arresting individuals within our community.
“However, the City of Perris does not have the legal jurisdiction to interfere with federal immigration officials during their investigations and as such we do not have the ability to do much beyond encouraging residents to research and to know their legal rights,” he said.
For more than a month, a heightened sense of fear has rippled through the immigrant community in Southern California as the Trump administration has intensified its immigration enforcement efforts, including arresting U.S. citizens and hundreds of undocumented immigrants without any criminal record.
Immigration agents have targeted car washes, shopping centers, swamp meets and other businesses — pushing immigrant community members underground and leaving many typically lively areas deserted.
Vargas’ message was released a day after Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino told his roughly 1 million parishioners that they could stay home on Sundays to avoid Mass given concerns surrounding the ongoing federal immigration raids.
Rojas’ guidance included encouraging members to “maintain their spiritual communion” by praying the rosary or reading scripture.
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