<\/p>\n
In California\u2019s Central Valley,<\/span> some surprising voters are lining up behind a progressive upstart: A law enforcement officer who calls for the abolition of ICE. A millennial who once voted for a Republican congressman.\u00a0<\/p>\n They found themselves among supporters of Randy Villegas, a Democrat poised to oust longtime incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao in a district dominated for decades by conservatives in California\u2019s Central Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Democratic victories across the nation, California\u2019s 22nd Congressional District is the kind of historically red stronghold where progressive policies may find new purchase.<\/p>\n Villegas\u2019s path to the general election mirrors that of other progressive candidates charting a new identity within the party. Running on policies such as Medicare for All, addressing affordability, rejecting corporate donations, and halting the flow of weapons to Israel, the 31-year-old defeated a moderate Democratic state assembly member backed by the party\u2019s establishment in the June primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n Villegas\u2019s opposition to ICE in a district that is 70 percent Latino or Hispanic marked the sharpest point of contrast with Valadao, who defended the Trump administration\u2019s anti-immigrant campaign and famously uttered \u201cIt is what it is\u201d on the debate stage last month when pressed on the issue. Valadao claimed \u201ca lot\u201d of the individuals captured by ICE in the Central Valley in recent weeks have criminal records, despite research<\/a> showing the majority<\/a> of those detained by ICE lack criminal convictions<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was Valadao\u2019s stance on immigration that most animated Central Valley voters who spoke with The Intercept.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen him stand up to something I feel is egregious,\u201d said Raul Castro, 53, a Fresno County probation officer who is upset with Valadao\u2019s lack of willingness to oppose Trump on the ICE raids surging through the area in recent weeks. \u201cI just don\u2019t respect people like that.\u201d<\/p>\n While standing on the front porch of his house in a middle-class suburb in northwest Fresno, Castro lamented ICE\u2019s targeting of immigrants based on their appearance, language, or jobs. He spoke out against immigration agents pulling people from the street and into labyrinthine detention centers where civil rights advocates have reported a lack of access to basic necessities such as clean water<\/a> and adequate healthcare<\/a>. Though Castro once supported ICE, when asked whether he would support abolishing the agency altogether, he said yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you asked me that same question, \u2018Hey would you abolish ICE?\u2019 I\u2019d say, \u2018No, \u2018cause they\u2019re doing things to make sure our country is safe. I want to live in a safe Fresno, safe county, safe city,\u2019\u201d Castro told The Intercept. \u201cBut now, wait a minute, maybe that\u2019s not what I thought it was going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Villegas told The Intercept he wasn\u2019t surprised to hear he had won the support of an anti-ICE law enforcement officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t find it surprising because I think ICE has made it much more difficult for local law enforcement to carry out their jobs and their work \u2014 and everybody is seeing the indiscriminate profiling going on,\u201d Villegas said at a Fresno park rally to support last-minute canvassing efforts.<\/p>\n Villegas himself does not support abolishing ICE but instead has called for wide-ranging reforms of the agency. The policy position makes Villegas somewhat an anomaly among his progressive peers, who are riding a wave of leftist energy<\/a> into Congress<\/a>, some of whom include \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d among their campaign platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n While holding key endorsements from high-profile democratic socialists Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Villegas has also rejected the socialist label, preferring \u201cpopulist,\u201d despite attempts<\/a> by the Republican national party to weaponize the term against him. Unlike many of his fellow progressives, Villegas is also one of the few who is running in a historically red district. And he\u2019s confident voters are not caught up in the ideological nuances and hopes to instead cut through them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are fed up with an agency who is unaccountable, people are fed up with a member of Congress who is unaccountable, who doesn\u2019t even have public town halls,\u201d Villegas said. \u201cWe deserve better than that in the Central Valley, and I think that\u2019s why our messaging is resonating across the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n Such reach across the political spectrum is also evidenced in voters like Aram Easter, 33, who was born and raised in Fresno. He doesn\u2019t vote in every election, but cast a ballot for Valadao a decade ago when his district previously covered Fresno, largely because he bought the vision of someone with local Central Valley roots (Valadao was born and raised in the nearby Hanford). He also agrees with some aspects of Trump\u2019s agenda, such as building the border wall. But he drew the line on immigration enforcement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou got people tearing people\u2019s families apart,\u201d Easter said. \u201cMy family immigrated here \u2014 I have Black and Mexican family \u2014 I\u2019m not with them overly-aggressively doing it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n