Worker dies after US immigration raid on California farm

“The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.”

ICE IS 'THE WORST OF THE WORST'


By AFP
July 11, 2025


California National Guard troops face off with protestors during a federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California - Copyright AFP BLAKE FAGAN
Paula RAMON

A farm worker died on Friday after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California that resulted in arrests of 200 undocumented migrants and clashes with protestors.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, condemned attacks by the demonstrators on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other members of law enforcement and said “these slimeballs” should be arrested.

Trump’s remarks on X came a day after a chaotic raid on a cannabis plantation in Ventura County some 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles that left one farm worker critically injured.

The United Farm Workers said in a post on X on Friday that the worker had “died of injuries they sustained as a result of yesterday’s immigration enforcement action.”

The union did not identify the worker, who reportedly suffered a 30-foot (10-meter) fall during Thursday’s raid.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana grow sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued “from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.”

Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has “never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”

The company said it was providing legal representation to detained workers.

DHS said more than 500 “rioters” had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers.

Tear gas was used against the protestors, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles.

The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a $50,000 reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers.



– Showdown –



In his post on X, Trump said he had watched footage of “thugs” throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing “tremendous damage.”

Trump said law enforcement officers who are “on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, (are authorized) to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so.”

“I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,” he said.

Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of migrants, has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks.

The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against roundups of undocumented migrants by federal agents.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.

The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks.

“We’ve been here since six this morning asking questions but they’re not giving us any information,” said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday.

“I just want to know how he’s doing,” Munoz said. “Bring him back to me and if it’s time for us to leave, we’ll leave.

“The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.”

 

Driving assistance systems could backfire

Some warning alerts can lead to more hazardous driving

University of Texas at Austin

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In recent years, every new car driver has been getting used to bells and beeps. As automakers try to make cars safer, they’ve introduced increasingly sophisticated driving assistance systems, to warn a driver when they’re drifting out of their lane or someone’s in their blind spot.

But do these features actually improve safety? Proponents point to studies showing that blind spot and lane departure warnings lead to decreases in collisions. Skeptics contend the systems can make drivers less attentive, relying too much on warning signals.

New research from Ashish Agarwal, associate professor of information, risk, and operations management at Texas McCombs, finds evidence for both viewpoints. By considering how human beings react to different kinds of warning signals, he suggests, automakers could better reduce risky driving behaviors.

“Our objective here is to give feedback to the car companies,” Agarwal says. “When they’re designing these features, they have to be aware that in some cases, they may make behaviors worse.”

Agarwal worked with Cenying Yang of the City University of Hong Kong and Prabhudev Konana of the University of Maryland to analyze data from a large automaker for cars sold in 2018 and 2019. The data, collected from onboard sensors, included trips, speeds, and acceleration rates for 195,743 vehicles. Some had Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS), and some did not.

The team’s main question was: Do these systems affect the general driving behavior of users over time, and, if so, how?

Affecting Driving in Opposite Ways

They gauged two kinds of hazardous driving behavior: rates of hard braking and rates of speeding. They also zeroed in on two sets of ADAS features that demand driver responses: blind spot detection and lane departure/forward collision warnings.

“We compared cars with blind spot detection with the ones that don’t have that to see how it influences speeding and hard braking behavior,” Agarwal says.

Controlling for variables such as vehicle features and driver demographics, the team found the two kinds of warning signals had opposite effects on driving behavior.

• Blind spot detection reduced the daily number of hard braking events 6.76% and speeding events 9.34%, compared with cars without ADAS.
• By contrast, lane departure/forward collision warnings led to 5.65% more hard braking and 5.34% more speeding.

Time magnified both effects, the researchers found, as drivers grew accustomed to the systems.

• Drivers speeded 0.40% less often for each extra month they used blind spot detection.
• They speeded 0.32% more for every added month with lane departure warnings.

Two Kinds of Thinking

Why do different features prompt different behaviors? In line with a psychological concept called dual process theory, Agarwal believes they trigger two different modes of thinking.

Urgent warnings, such as lane departure and forward collision, require a driver to correct course immediately. That causes System 1 or reactive thinking, which is automatic and largely unconscious. Says Agarwal, “It triggers risk compensation behavior, which impedes your learning and makes your behavior worse.”

By comparison, blind spot detection does not demand an instant reaction. It allows time for deliberate, System 2 thinking, reasoning one’s way to a response.

Automakers should consider these findings as they design the next generation of ADAS features, Agarwal says. For example, a car could repeat a warning signal after a lane departure as well as during. That might encourage System 2 thinking, helping a driver reconsider their risky behavior.

“For learning to take place, you need to be in the System 2 mode,” he says. “That means that you learn, and your behavior improves over time.”

“General Behavioral Impact of Smart System Warnings: A Case of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems” is published in Production and Operations Management.

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Journal

Production and Operations Management

DOI

10.1177/10591478251336742 

Article Title

General Behavioral Impact of Smart System Warnings: A Case of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems

 

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Comparison of the in situ profile, HYCOM profile, and Munk profile sound speed at the four sites FUKU a, KUM2 b, MYGI c, and TOS2 d.

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Credit: The authors

A new study reveals that global ocean analysis products can effectively replace expensive in-situ sound speed measurements for precise seafloor positioning. The research demonstrates that using sound speed profiles (SSPs) from the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) global ocean analysis achieves centimeter-level accuracy in seafloor positioning, comparable to traditional methods. This innovation could significantly reduce costs and logistical challenges in marine geodetic surveys, particularly for unmanned vehicles or long-term monitoring.

Accurate seafloor positioning is critical for studying tectonic movements, earthquakes, and marine resource exploration. The Global Navigation Satellite System-Acoustic (GNSS-A) technique combines satellite and acoustic measurements to achieve centimeter-level accuracy. However, GNSS-A traditionally relies on costly measurements of in-situ SSPs, which require extensive time and resources to collect. Variations in ocean temperature, salinity, and pressure further complicate in-situ measurement sampling, which cannot adequately represent the spatial-temporal changes of sound speed, limiting the efficiency of seafloor geodesy. Based on these challenges, there is a pressing need to explore cost-effective alternatives to in-situ SSPs.

Published (DOI: 10.1186/s43020-025-00170-z) on June 30, 2025, in Satellite Navigation, researchers from the First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources and Shandong University of Science and Technology evaluated the feasibility of using HYCOM global ocean analysis products for GNSS-A positioning. By comparing global ocean analysis derived SSPs with traditional in-situ and Munk empirical profiles, the study found that global ocean analysis delivers comparable accuracy while slashing operational costs.

The study revealed that global ocean analysis derived SSPs delivered horizontal positioning accuracy of 0.2 cm (RMS) and vertical accuracy of 2.9 cm (RMS), closely matching traditional in-situ measurements while eliminating the need for costly sound speed field surveys. In contrast, the Munk empirical profile introduced significant vertical errors (10.3 cm RMS) due to its oversimplified assumptions, making it unsuitable for high-precision applications. HYCOM global ocean analysis excelled in energetic and eddying marine regions like the Kuroshio Current, with the seafloor displacement linear fitting residual of 2.3 cm horizontally, though slightly higher discrepancies (~3 cm horizontally) occurred in complex dynamic zones like the Kuroshio-Oyashio confluence region. Long-term data (8 years) confirmed HYCOM global ocean analysis's reliability, with displacement trends aligning at sub-mm/year levels horizontally, proving its viability for tectonic monitoring. Notably, the method’s cost-efficiency and compatibility with unmanned vehicles could facilitate access to seafloor geodesy, offering a practical alternative for scientific and industrial use.

Dr. Yanxiong Liu, corresponding author of the study, noted: "Our results confirm that global ocean analysis sound speed profiles are a practical alternative to in-situ measurements. This advancement not only cuts costs but also expands access to seafloor geodetic technology for broader scientific and industrial applications."

The study's findings could expand seafloor geodetic monitoring by making GNSS-A positioning more affordable and accessible. Using global ocean analysis sound speed profiles instead of costly in-situ measurements facilitates frequent, high-precision surveys - particularly valuable for earthquake-prone regions like the Japan Trench. Offshore industries could benefit from cheaper seafloor positioning for infrastructure projects, while seismology scientists gain better tools to study seafloor plate tectonics. The approach also holds promise for unmanned vehicle navigation and deep-sea exploration. By eliminating the need for expensive SSPs measurements, this innovation could expand marine geodesy and advance our understanding of seafloor science.

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References

DOI

10.1186/s43020-025-00170-z

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1186/s43020-025-00170-z

Funding information

This work is supported by the Science and Technology Innovation Project Funded by Laoshan Laboratory (LSKJ202205102), the Basic Scientific Fund for National Public Research Institutes of China (2022S03), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFB0505805), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42004030), and the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2023QD179).

About Satellite Navigation

Satellite Navigation (E-ISSN: 2662-1363; ISSN: 2662-9291) is the official journal of Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The journal aims to report innovative ideas, new results or progress on the theoretical techniques and applications of satellite navigation. The journal welcomes original articles, reviews and commentaries.

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Journal

Satellite Navigation

DOI

10.1186/s43020-025-00170-z 

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Precise GNSS-acoustic seafloor positioning with sound speed from global ocean analysis

 

Tipping the balance: How hidden chemical threats are reshaping ecosystems

Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences

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Frameworks of ecological risk assessments. a, Traditional dose–response linear models for conventional approaches. b, Nonlinear response patterns framework for natural ecosystems under multiple stressors.

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Credit: Environmental Science and Ecotechnology

Since the onset of the Anthropocene, chemical pollution has become a major global threat to biodiversity across all ecosystems. It is no longer a problem of simple cause and effect. A new study reveals that pollutants can trigger sudden and dramatic ecological changes, acting like hidden levers that push ecosystems past points of no return. These shifts often happen without warning—disrupting biodiversity, altering food webs, and weakening natural resilience. Rather than following a predictable pattern, the impact of chemical contaminants often unfolds through complex, nonlinear dynamics. To tackle this, researchers propose an integrated framework that blends real-time monitoring with predictive modeling, offering a sharper lens to detect early warning signs and prevent irreversible damage. This approach could transform how we safeguard global ecosystems in the face of escalating environmental stress.

For decades, environmental regulations have relied on the idea that pollution harms nature in a steady, measurable way: more pollution equals more damage. But ecosystems are not that simple. Even low doses of chemicals can quietly disrupt metabolism, reproduction, and behavior, weakening species long before populations visibly decline. As pollution levels increase, the effects can suddenly accelerate, leading to cascading consequences across habitats and species. These tipping points are further magnified when chemical stressors interact with other global threats like climate change and habitat loss. Due to these complexities, there is an urgent need to move beyond linear assumptions and develop ecological risk models that reflect the real-world dynamics of pollution.

A cross-institutional team of researchers from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing Normal University, China National Environmental Monitoring Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan University, and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has developed a bold new model for understanding chemical pollution. Published (DOI: 10.1016/j.ese.2025.100589) on June 25, 2025, in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, the study outlines a shift away from traditional risk assessments. It introduces a dynamic framework that captures how chemical pollutants interact with other environmental stressors to trigger nonlinear, often unpredictable impacts on biodiversity across land, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.

The proposed framework consists of four interlocking components designed to anticipate and respond to the complex, nonlinear effects of chemical pollutants under multiple environmental stressors. First, a hierarchically structured monitoring system integrates chemical, biological, and ecological data across ecosystems using cutting-edge tools like environmental DNA metabarcoding and non-target chemical screening. In practice, such methods have successfully traced pollution sources in complex mixtures, such as in Guangzhou's Chebei Stream. Second, the framework introduces advanced analytics—such as mixture toxicity testing and machine learning—to identify when ecosystems are approaching a critical tipping point. Third, the authors advocate for integrating multi-stressor monitoring frameworks into environmental regulations. The European Union's REACH program presents a strategic opportunity to incorporate real-time, nonlinear risk assessments into chemical safety decisions. Finally, the study emphasizes the importance of scalable technology: smart biosensors and satellite-based vegetation monitoring offer timely insights into ecosystem stress and recovery. For example, satellite data from the Amazon Basin revealed slower vegetation recovery after droughts—an early signal of ecological decline. Together, these components form a proactive system capable of detecting emerging threats and supporting adaptive ecosystem management before irreversible damage occurs.

"Our current models are too simplistic to capture how real ecosystems respond to pollution," explains Dr. Xiaowei Jin, corresponding author and senior researcher at the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre. "Chemical pollutants don't act alone—they interact with climate shifts, habitat loss, and species dynamics. By integrating high-resolution monitoring with predictive analytics, we can spot danger before collapse occurs. This new framework marks a vital turning point for environmental policy—one that better matches the complexity of the world we live in."

This nonlinear framework could revolutionize how policymakers and scientists approach environmental risk. By recognizing and quantifying complex pollutant interactions, the system allows for earlier, more accurate identification of ecological tipping points. Regulators can use this knowledge to revise pollutant thresholds, prioritize sensitive regions, and implement timely interventions tailored to local ecological contexts. The model also encourages transdisciplinary collaboration—uniting ecologists, data scientists, and policy experts to safeguard biodiversity in a rapidly changing world. As global pressures mount, this approach provides a science-based, adaptive roadmap to better protect ecosystems and the life they support.

###

References

DOI

10.1016/j.ese.2025.100589

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2025.100589

Funding information

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42322710, 42477299) and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (42325706).

About Environmental Science and Ecotechnology

Environmental Science and Ecotechnology (ISSN 2666-4984) is an international, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal published by Elsevier. The journal publishes significant views and research across the full spectrum of ecology and environmental sciences, such as climate change, sustainability, biodiversity conservation, environment & health, green catalysis/processing for pollution control, and AI-driven environmental engineering. The latest impact factor of ESE is 14, according to the Journal Citation ReportTM 2024.

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Journal

Environmental Science and Ecotechnology

DOI

10.1016/j.ese.2025.100589 

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Beyond linear Thinking: Redefining chemical pollution impacts on biodiversity

Article Publication Date

25-Jun-2025

 

Hepatitis C treatment is not reaching some at-risk populations

Two studies show disparities in access for children, recently pregnant women

WashU Medicine

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image: 

A study led by Megan Curtis, MD, an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at WashU Medicine (right), and Caroline Cary, a third-year medical student, showed that recently pregnant women face disparities in access to treatment for hepatitis C infection. The research follows Curtis’ recent study that showed children are also undertreated for the virus.

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Credit: Matt Miller

As the opioid epidemic has worsened in the United States, prevalence of hepatitis C has also increased. Hepatitis C is a bloodborne virus that damages the liver. It is mainly spread through sharing needles or other injection equipment and can also be passed from a mother to baby during pregnancy or childbirth. It can be safely and effectively treated by direct-acting antiviral therapies that are approved for both adults and children.

Two recent studies from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveal that two vulnerable populations — children and recently pregnant women — face disparities in access to treatment for hepatitis C infection. Without treatment, these groups are at risk of long-term adverse health outcomes such as cirrhosis, liver cancer and death.

One study, published in Pediatrics in collaboration with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, found that few children with hepatitis C were referred for care. This study also revealed that there were significant disparities in whether these patients were provided care and treatment for their infection depending on a child’s race, geographic location and age. A second study, led by WashU Medicine researchers and published July 10 in Obstetrics & Gynecology Open, showed that recently pregnant women with the hepatitis C virus were significantly less likely to receive hepatitis C treatment than men or women who had not been recently pregnant.

“We have treatments for hepatitis C where it’s just two or three months of pills and then over 95% of people are cured,” said Megan Curtis, MD, an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU Medicine, who led both studies. “But we are still having difficulties in getting the treatments to the populations that need them the most. These kinds of studies can help us identify where those barriers are.”

Disparities in hepatitis C treatment for children

Curtis has focused her research on identifying which patients experience gaps in access to hepatitis C treatment. Using anonymized data from a national database, she identified 928 pediatric patients who tested positive for hepatitis C between 2000 and 2022.

In the study published in Pediatrics, Curtis found that only about one in eight of these children were treated for hepatitis C, but that ratio was affected by certain factors. Children born between 2014 and 2018 were more likely to be treated than were those born earlier, which likely reflects changes in Medicaid and insurance coverage during that period, as well as increased availability of treatment for younger children in later years. However, this group’s rate of treatment was still much lower than that of adult patients with hepatitis C.

The study found racial and ethnic disparities as well. Compared to Black children, Hispanic children had about twice the odds and White children had about three times the odds of receiving care for hepatitis C. Geographic region also played a role in disparities: Children with hepatitis C living in the South were least likely to receive treatment compared to those in other regions of the country.

Although these differences may stem largely from socioeconomic disparities in access to health care and regional availability of providers, Curtis noted that other factors can also contribute to low overall treatments rates among children.

“Parents might also delay because of the difficulty of administering a medicine to a young child,” she said, “and clinicians may delay treatment because some children who have hepatitis C will spontaneously clear it on their own. However, this isn’t always the case.”

Treatment for recently pregnant women lags

Hepatitis C infections have been increasing in people with opioid use disorders. Within that population, men have been shown to be more likely to receive treatment for hepatitis C than women are. To understand why, Curtis, in collaboration with Kevin Xu, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and co-senior author of the study in Obstetrics & Gynecology Open, and their team set out to see if pregnancy might be playing a role in these sex disparities.

Given that people with opioid use disorder are at risk of contracting hepatitis C, the researchers used an administrative claims database and similar epidemiologic methods as in the pediatric study to analyze data on patients in treatment for opioid use disorder who were also confirmed to have hepatitis C. They found that recent pregnancy was strongly associated with a lower likelihood of receiving treatment for hepatitis C. Recently pregnant patients with hepatitis C were almost 30% less likely to receive antivirals than men were (31.8% versus 40.6%, respectively), and about 11% less likely than women who were not recently pregnant (31.8% versus 35.7%).

Caroline Cary, a third-year medical student at WashU Medicine who is the first author on the study, said the results suggest that more resources are needed to reach patients who are likely to slip through the cracks.

“People with hepatitis C are often asymptomatic for years after being exposed, so if you are young, otherwise healthy and have a new baby, getting prompt treatment may not be a top priority, especially if it is challenging to access,” said Cary. “It’s imperative to make hepatitis C care more readily accessible to new moms considering the long-term consequences of the condition.”

For Curtis, it’s a troubling problem because treatments for hepatitis C are very effective when started early and taken consistently.

“We need to come up with better strategies for addressing hepatitis C,” she said. “We have all the tools to eliminate it. We have medications that can treat it. We know the people who need to get it. We just need to step up the availability and the awareness. We could be done with hepatitis C in a generation.”

 

Curtis MR, Munroe S, Biondi BE, Ciaranello AL, Linas BP, Epstein RL. Disparities in linkage to care among children with Hepatitis C virus in the United States. Pediatrics. April 18, 2025. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2024-068565

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health grant numbers T32AI052074, T32AI007433, National Institute of Drug Addiction P30DA040500 and 1K01DA052821, the James and Audrey Foster MGH Research Scholar Award, the Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, the Providence and Boston Center for AIDS Research P30AI042853, the Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute 1UL1TR001430, and a Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Department of Medicine Career Investment Award. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Cary CB, McCrary LM, Marks LR, Kelly JC, Hartz SM, Hayibor L, Grucza RA, Xu KY, Curtis MR. Association between sex and recent pregnancy and hepatitis C virus treatment in people with opioid use disorder. Obstetrics & Gynecology Open. July 10, 2025. DOI: 10.1097/og9.0000000000000096

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health grant numbers K12DA041449, K08DA061258, P50 MH122351, R21 DA057493, R01 HD113199, and R61 DA06232. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

About Washington University School of Medicine

WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,900 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 83% since 2016. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,900 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations. WashU Medicine physicians exclusively staff Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals — the academic hospitals of BJC HealthCare — and treat patients at BJC’s community hospitals in our region. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.

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Journal

Obstetrics & Gynecology Open Access

DOI

10.1097/og9.0000000000000096 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Association between sex and recent pregnancy and hepatitis C virus treatment in people with opioid use disorder

Article Publication Date

10-Jul-2025