KILLER GESTAPO
"ICE is out of control," said one Democratic congresswoman. "This is not law enforcement. It is state violence."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers make an arrest after pulling a person out of their vehicle during a raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, on July 10, 2025.
(Photo/Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images)
Brett Wilkins
Jul 11, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
A Mexican farmworker who reportedly fell from a greenhouse while trying to hide during a Trump administration raid on a Southern California farm has died from his injuries, the United Farm Workers union announced Friday.
Federal authorities including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, many clad in military-style gear, stormed farms in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties on Thursday to execute search warrants for undocumented people. At Glass House Farms in Camarillo—which grows state-legal cannabis as well as tomatoes and cucumbers—the invading agents were met with spirited resistance from hundreds of community members who rushed to the site in support of targeted workers. Federal officers responded by firing tear gas and less-lethal projectiles at crowds of protesters who were blocking area roadways in a bid to prevent arrests.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that officers "arrested approximately 200 illegal aliens" from Glass House Farms and another farm in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, where protesters also descended, and were met with tear gas and pepper balls, according to local news outlets. DHS also said they found at least 10 immigrant children on the farm.
The Associated Press reported that a farmworker, identified as Jaime Alanís, phoned his wife in Mexico and told her about the raid in progress, saying he was hiding with other workers. Alanís fell from his hiding place and suffered broken neck, fractured skull, and a rupture in an artery that pumps blood to the brain, his niece Yesenia—who did not want to give her full name—told the AP.
"They told us he won't make it and to say goodbye," she said.
United Farm Workers (UFW) said Friday that "other workers, including U.S. citizens, remain unaccounted for."
"Our staff is on the ground supporting families," UFW said in a statement. "Many workers, including U.S. citizens, were held by federal authorities at the farm for eight hours or more. U.S. citizen workers report only being released after they were forced to delete photos and videos of the raid from their phones."
"UFW is also aware of reports of child labor on site," the union continued. "The UFW demands the immediate facilitation of independent legal representation for the minor workers, to protect them from further harm. Farmworkers are excluded from basic child labor laws."
"These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives, and separate families," UFW added. "There is no city, state, or federal district where it is legal to terrorize and detain people for being brown and working in agriculture. These raids must stop immediately."
The raids appear to be ramping up, even before ICE receives an historic $46 billion funding infusion via the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Donald Trump last week. Video footage posted on social media in recent days showed ICE officers and other federal agents arresting people in courthouses, a hospital, and marching through a suburban Utah neighborhood.
Democratic U.S. lawmakers were among those condemning the Trump administration's crackdown and mourning Alanís' death.
"A farmworker has died following a federal raid in Southern California. This is a heartbreaking and deeply troubling development," Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-Calif.) said on social media. "Immigrant communities deserve safety and dignity. I'm calling for a full investigation and accountability."
"Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said that "ICE is out of control."
"This is not law enforcement," she added. "It is state violence."
Some observers called on Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom—who has overseen several legal challenges to the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants and protesters who defend them—to do more to help people targeted by ICE.
"If Newsom really cared about defending our state and our communities, he'd be on the line with other farmers by last night," Murshed Zaheed, a former U.S. Senate Democratic leadership staffer, said on the social media site Bluesky.
One California worker dead, hundreds arrested after cannabis farm raid
The raid is the newest escalation in President Donald Trump's campaign for mass deportations of immigrants in the US illegally.
A vehicle with the message "ICE, ICE Baby!" written in the dust on the rear windscreen stands near U.S. federal agents blocking a road leading to an agricultural facility where U.S. federal agents and immigration officers carried out an operation, in Camarillo, California, U.S., July 10, 2025.
(photo credit: Daniel Cole/Reuters)
By REUTERS
JULY 12, 2025
A California farm worker died on Friday from injuries sustained a day earlier when US immigration agents raided a cannabis operation and arrested hundreds of workers, according to a farm worker advocacy group.
Separately, a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt some of its most aggressive tactics in rounding up undocumented immigrants.
Dozens of migrant-rights activists faced off with federal agents in rural Southern California on Thursday. It was the latest escalation of President Donald Trump's campaign for mass deportations of immigrants in the US illegally.
His administration has made conflicting statements about whether immigration agents will target the farm labor workforce, about half of which is unauthorized to work in the US, according to government estimates.
The Department of Homeland Security said approximately 200 people in the country illegally were arrested in the raid, which targeted two locations of the cannabis operation Glass House Farms
A California farm worker died on Friday from injuries sustained a day earlier when US immigration agents raided a cannabis operation and arrested hundreds of workers, according to a farm worker advocacy group.
Separately, a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt some of its most aggressive tactics in rounding up undocumented immigrants.
Dozens of migrant-rights activists faced off with federal agents in rural Southern California on Thursday. It was the latest escalation of President Donald Trump's campaign for mass deportations of immigrants in the US illegally.
His administration has made conflicting statements about whether immigration agents will target the farm labor workforce, about half of which is unauthorized to work in the US, according to government estimates.
The Department of Homeland Security said approximately 200 people in the country illegally were arrested in the raid, which targeted two locations of the cannabis operation Glass House Farms
.
An ICE agent in Los Angeles, June 2025; illustrative.
(credit: US HOMELAND SECURITY/HANDOUT/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES)
ICE raids a California cannabis farm Agents also found 10 migrant minors at the farm, the department said in an emailed statement. The facility is under investigation for child labor violations, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott posted on X.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The scene at the farm on Thursday was chaotic, with federal agents in helmets and face masks using tear gas and smoke canisters on angry protesters, according to photos and videos of the scene.
Several farm workers were injured and one died on Friday from injuries sustained after a 30-foot fall from a building during the raid, said Elizabeth Strater, national vice president of the United Farm Workers.
The worker who died was identified as Jaime Alanis on a verified GoFundMe page created by his family, who said they were raising money to help his family and for his burial in Mexico.
"He was his family's provider. They took one of our family members. We need justice," Alanis' family wrote on the GoFundMe page.
US citizens were detained during the raid, and some are still unaccounted for, Strater said.
DHS said its agents were not responsible for the man's death, saying that "although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet." Agents immediately called for a medical evacuation, DHS said.
California Rural Legal Assistance, which provides legal services and other support to farm workers, is working on picking up checks for detained Glass House workers, said directing attorney Angelica Preciado.
Some Glass House workers detained during the raid were only able to call family members after they signed voluntary deportation orders, and were told they could be jailed for life because they worked at a cannabis facility, Preciado said.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin rejected those allegations, saying in an emailed statement that "allegations that ICE or CBP agents denied detainees from calling legal assistance are unequivocally false."
Some citizen workers who were detained reported only being released from custody after deleting photos and videos of the raid from their phones, UFW President Teresa Romero said in a statement.
"These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families," Romero said.
Farm groups have warned that mass deportation of farm workers would cripple the country's food supply chain.
In her most recent comments, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said there would be "no amnesty" for farm workers from deportation. Trump, though, has said migrant workers should be permitted to stay on farms.
US District Court Judge Maame Frimpong granted two temporary restraining orders blocking the administration from detaining immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally based on racial profiling and from denying detained people the right to speak with a lawyer.
The ruling, made in response to a lawsuit from immigration advocacy groups, says the administration is violating the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution by conducting "roving patrols" to sweep up suspected undocumented immigrants based on their being Latinos, and then denying them access to lawyers.
Donald Trump grants ICE “total authority” to arrest “slimeball” protesters in response to violence
The US President responded to clashes between his “law enforcement officers” and demonstrators by authorising aggressive federal crackdown
In a strongly worded public post on Truth Social, POTUS Donald Trump has given US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “total authorisation” to arrest demonstrators protesting against the widespread repression of immigrants in the country. The announcement claimed he had witnessed instances of violent clashes between the two groups on his way back from visiting flood-ravaged Texas.
“I am on my way back from Texas, and watched in disbelief as THUGS were violently throwing rocks and bricks at ICE Officers while they were moving down a roadway in their car and/or official vehicle,” he said, further expressing his indignation at the “tremendous damage” to “brand-new” government vehicles and the “disrespect” towards the law and order of the land.
In the post, he directed the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and Border Czar, Tom Homan, to instruct all law enforcement officers faced with assault or violence to arrest the “slimeballs” responsible for the attack, adding that he was providing authority to use “whatever means to do so”, announcing that he was giving ICE “Total Authorisation to protect itself”.
Federal agents reportedly arrived at the legal cannabis cultivating Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, on Thursday and were met by a crowd of protestors who attempted to block the way to the farm, throwing rocks and bricks at the government officials.
The ICE officers responded with rounds of what is thought to be less-than-lethal tear gas, detaining approximately 200 workers who are claimed to be undocumented. One farm worker sustained injuries that later led to his death during the raids. One protester is alleged to have fired a gun in the direction of ICE agents. No injuries related to gun violence have been reported.
The US President responded to clashes between his “law enforcement officers” and demonstrators by authorising aggressive federal crackdown
Updated: July 12, 2025
In a strongly worded public post on Truth Social, POTUS Donald Trump has given US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “total authorisation” to arrest demonstrators protesting against the widespread repression of immigrants in the country. The announcement claimed he had witnessed instances of violent clashes between the two groups on his way back from visiting flood-ravaged Texas.
“I am on my way back from Texas, and watched in disbelief as THUGS were violently throwing rocks and bricks at ICE Officers while they were moving down a roadway in their car and/or official vehicle,” he said, further expressing his indignation at the “tremendous damage” to “brand-new” government vehicles and the “disrespect” towards the law and order of the land.
In the post, he directed the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and Border Czar, Tom Homan, to instruct all law enforcement officers faced with assault or violence to arrest the “slimeballs” responsible for the attack, adding that he was providing authority to use “whatever means to do so”, announcing that he was giving ICE “Total Authorisation to protect itself”.
Federal agents reportedly arrived at the legal cannabis cultivating Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, on Thursday and were met by a crowd of protestors who attempted to block the way to the farm, throwing rocks and bricks at the government officials.
The ICE officers responded with rounds of what is thought to be less-than-lethal tear gas, detaining approximately 200 workers who are claimed to be undocumented. One farm worker sustained injuries that later led to his death during the raids. One protester is alleged to have fired a gun in the direction of ICE agents. No injuries related to gun violence have been reported.
No comments:
Post a Comment