The Pan Valley Institute is located on West Shaw Avenue, near the northwest corner of Shaw and Fruit.
On April 13, 2007, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began a series of raids in Madera, California. It is estimated that ICE detained over 25 undocumented indigenous immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico, in their homes that morning, leaving their families and the community of Madera devastated. In the DVD In Search of a Future, people from Madera express their fears of being separated from their families and speak of the trials of living in a country that resists acknowledging their contributions and labels them as criminals.