Authorities say about 200 immigrants were arrested in raids on 2
Southern California farms
[July 12, 2025]
By AMY TAXIN, DAMIAN DOVARGANES and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — Federal immigration authorities said Friday
they arrested about 200 immigrants suspected of being in the country
illegally in raids a day earlier on two California cannabis farm sites.
Protesters engaged in a tense standoff with authorities during an
operation at one of the farms.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that authorities
executed criminal search warrants in Carpinteria and Camarillo,
California, on Thursday. They arrested immigrants suspected of being in
the country illegally, and there were also at least 10 immigrant
children on site, the statement said.
Four U.S. citizens were arrested for “assaulting or resisting officers,”
the department said. Authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest of one person suspected of firing a
gun at federal agents. One worker who called family to say he was hiding
from authorities was on life support after falling and suffering
significant injuries.
During the raid, crowds of people gathered outside Glass House Farms in
Camarillo to seek information about their relatives and protest
immigration enforcement. Authorities clad in military-style helmets and
uniforms faced off with the demonstrators. Acrid green and white
billowing smoke then forced community members to retreat.
Glass House, a licensed California cannabis grower, said in a statement
that immigration agents had valid warrants. The company said workers
were detained, and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
The farm also grows tomatoes and cucumbers.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices
and does not and has never employed minors,” the statement said.
It is legal to grow and sell cannabis in California with proper
licensing.
The state's Department of Cannabis Control said they “observed no minors
on the premises” during a site visit to the farm in May 2025. After
receiving another complaint, the department opened an active
investigation, according to a department spokesperson.
Worker gravely injured
At least 12 people were injured during the raid and protest, said Andrew
Dowd, a spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department. Eight were
taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center and the Ventura County
Medical Center, and four were treated at the scene and released. Dowd
said he did not have information on the extent of the injuries of those
hospitalized.
On Friday, about two dozen people waited outside the farm to retrieve
the cars of loved ones and speak to managers. Relatives of Jaime Alanis,
who has picked tomatoes at the farm for 10 years, said he called his
wife in Mexico during the raid to tell her immigration agents had
arrived and that he was hiding with others inside the farm.
“The next thing we heard was that he was in the hospital with broken
hands, ribs and a broken neck,” Juan Duran, Alanis’ brother-in-law, said
in Spanish.
It was not immediately clear how Alanis was injured. A doctor at Ventura
County Medical Center told the family that those who brought Alanis to
the hospital said he had fallen from the roof of a building.
Alanis had a broken neck, fractured skull and a rupture in an artery
that pumps blood to the brain, said his niece Yesenia, who didn’t want
to share her last name for fear of reprisal. He is on life support, she
said.
“They told us he won’t make it and to say goodbye,” Yesenia said,
crying.
The hospital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Confrontation with authorities
Relatives and advocates headed to the farm about 50 miles (80
kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles to try to find out what
was going on, and began protesting outside.
Federal authorities formed a line blocking the road leading through farm
fields to the company's greenhouses. Protesters were seen shouting at
agents wearing camouflage gear, helmets and gas masks. The billowing
smoke drove protesters to retreat. It wasn’t clear why authorities threw
the canisters or if they released chemicals such as tear gas.
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This undated photo provided by his family shows Jaime Alanis inside
Ventura County Medical Center, after he was injured during an
immigration raid on Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Camarillo, Calif.
(Family photo via AP)
Ventura County fire authorities responding to a 911 call of people
having trouble breathing said three people were taken to nearby
hospitals.
At the farm, agents arrested workers and removed them by bus.
Others, including U.S. citizens, were detained at the site for hours
while agents investigated.
The incident came as federal immigration agents have ramped up
arrests in Southern California at car washes, farms and Home Depot
parking lots, stoking widespread fear among immigrant communities.
Federal investigations
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Friday that
the investigation into immigration and potential child labor
violations at the farm is ongoing. No further details of the
allegations were provided.
The agency said hundreds of demonstrators attempted to disrupt the
operations, leading to the arrest of four Americans.
“We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who
assaults or doxes federal law enforcement,” Assistant Secretary
Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border
Protection were both part of the operation, the statement said.
President Donald Trump said he has ordered DHS Secretary Kristi Noem
and White House border czar Tom Homan to direct ICE agents to use
“whatever means is necessary” going forward when dealing with
violent protesters.
“I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just
like they protect the Public,” Trump said in a social media posting
Friday evening.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement blamed
“violent leftists” and Democrats for the Camarillo incident and
other assaults on ICE agents in recent weeks.
Family members search for answers
The mother of an American worker said her son was held at the
worksite for 11 hours and told her agents took workers’ cellphones
to prevent them from calling family or filming and forced them to
erase cellphone video of agents at the site.
The woman said her son told her agents marked the men’s hands with
ink to distinguish their immigration status. She spoke to The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity because she feared
reprisals from the government.
United Farm Workers said in statement that some U.S. citizens are
not yet accounted for.
Maria Servin, 68, said her son has worked at the farm for 18 years
and was helping to build a greenhouse. She said she spoke to her
son, who is undocumented, after hearing of the raid and offered to
pick him up.
“He said not to come because they were surrounded and there was even
a helicopter. That was the last time I spoke to him,” Servin, a U.S.
citizen, said in Spanish.
She said she went to the farm anyway but federal agents were
shooting tear gas and rubber bullets and she decided it was not safe
to stay. She and her daughter returned to the farm Friday and were
told her son had been arrested Thursday. They still don’t know where
he is being held.
“I regret 1,000 times that I didn’t help him get his documents,”
Servin said.
_____
Taxin reported from Orange County, California, and Rodriguez
reported from San Francisco.
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