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A worker dies after a massive raid targeting immigrants at cannabis farms in California.

A worker dies after a massive raid targeting immigrants at cannabis farms in California.

ICE raids against immigrants are reaching an unexpected limit. On Thursday, in Camarillo, a swarm of agents spent the day at a cannabis farm, chasing hundreds of them and arresting about 200. During the chase, a man fell more than 30 feet from a greenhouse and suffered critical injuries, breaking his neck and being rushed to the hospital. This Friday, the farmworkers union announced the man's death.

Californians know Camarillo as a northern suburban city, an hour's drive from Los Angeles, a work and residential area for thousands of people. Its most famous landmark is its huge outlet mall , but it's also home to California State University —due to its proximity to the Channel Islands, a prime location for ocean studies—and a plantation site, with its vast land holdings. In fact, Camarillo is home to one of the largest cannabis farms—legal in California—in the world, with almost 50 hectares, called Glass House Farms. It has another location about 50 kilometers north, in the city of Carpinteria, very close to Santa Barbara. And precisely at both farms, on Thursday morning, Immigration and Border Protection (ICE) agents carried out brutal raids against workers. With the arrest of 200 people, Thursday became the single-day largest number of arrests in California history.

Chaos was evident throughout the day, as was fear. Camarillo was the epicenter. It all began around 10:00 a.m., and things quickly became tense. To stop the immigrants, agents deployed throughout the plantation camps and along the access roads to the facilities fired high-powered tear gas , injuring 14 people. Four were treated by ambulances on-site and at least five required hospitalization.

The union has protested these “chaotic raids,” which they describe as “violent and cruel,” and which “terrorize American communities, disrupt the food chain, threaten lives, and separate families.” “Many workers, including American citizens, were detained by federal authorities at the farm for eight or more hours. The American citizen workers have explained that they were only released after being forced to delete photos and videos of the raid from their phones.”

On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump also addressed the issue. In his usual heated tone, he wrote on his social media platform, Truth, that he had seen “THUGS throwing rocks and bricks at ICE agents as they drove their cars down the highway,” referring to a video showing people throwing large rocks at cars that appears, unconfirmed, to have been recorded amid the chaos of the raid. The president called for “these SLIMES to be stopped, using whatever means necessary,” and stated in the message that he gave “full authorization to ICE to protect themselves, just as they protect the people”: “I never want to see a law enforcement vehicle attacked again! I GUARANTEE IMMEDIATE AUTHORIZATION FOR ARREST AND IMPRISONEMENT!”

Donald Trump-appointed Border and Customs Enforcement official Rodney Scott told X that 10 minors had been found at the facility, all of them illegal immigrants, eight of them unaccompanied. “There’s an ongoing investigation into child exploitation. This is Gavin Newsom’s California,” he said harshly. The state’s governor responded : “Children running away from the tear gas, crying on the phone because their mothers have been taken from the fields. Trump calls me trash, but he’s the real trash.”

Kids running from tear gas, crying on the phone because their mother was just taken from the fields.

Trump calls me “Newscum” — but he's the real scum. pic.twitter.com/fj0l25mRBN

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 11, 2025

ICE spent the entire day at the facility. By 2:00 p.m., agents, including some members of the National Guard sent by President Donald Trump despite Governor Newson's refusal , had formed a barrier preventing all access. When night fell, workers and ICE personnel were still at the plantation, as were hundreds of people protesting. Some residents reported that, although they were citizens and showed their documents to the agents, they had been detained and taken to a local facility. After verifying their documentation, they were allowed to leave. Some of the workers were not able to return to their cars and homes until after 7:00 p.m.

There were up to 500 people protesting in the area. Witnesses told local news that they were simply driving by when they were detained. Many workers' families went to the farms to see what their loved ones were doing, and some activists even tried to stop the trucks leaving Camarillo, which were taking the detained workers away. They arrived in the morning and throughout the day to find out if their children, partners, or siblings were still there or had been detained, because many of them had lost their phones or had them confiscated.

A local resident named Darria Rosalez told KTLA news that she had gone to the fields to find her cousin, a farmworker. “They've already taken him,” she stated, serious and angry. “It's very sad. I was back there when they arrived. No one was doing anything wrong. They were just working in the fields.” Another woman, Dalia Perez, explained to the local Ventura newspaper that her mother, a farmworker who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, had been taken. She felt “angry, desperate”: “She hasn't done anything, just worked for us and for a better life.”

The protests were so large that some observers were even arrested, such as a philosophy professor at CalState University. An activist, who was also a student of the professor, explained to the Los Angeles Times who was arrested while trying to help a man in a wheelchair who had been pushed by officers

Vianey Lopez, supervisor of Ventura's Fifth District, the county to which Camarillo belongs, stated that it was "a very unfortunate situation," acknowledging that there were "hundreds of people" at the scene and that it was impossible to know how many had been detained. "This is an ongoing situation that is very concerning for the safety of those who are protesting with anger and disappointment over what is happening to the hardworking people of our community ."

Federal agents are executing a search warrant at this marijuana farm. Agents have already arrested multiple individuals for impeding this operation and will continue to make arrests. Don't interfere. You will be arrested and charged with a federal offense. https://t.co/KMwZ5WToOc

— US Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) July 11, 2025

A State Department spokesperson said, “DHS law enforcement is executing warrants at a marijuana facility. Our brave agents will continue to enforce the law.” Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, assigned to Los Angeles, wrote on X : “Federal agents are executing a search warrant at this marijuana farm,” alongside local news footage. “Agents have already arrested several individuals for impeding this operation and will continue to make arrests.” “Do not interfere,” he demanded. “You will be arrested and charged with a federal crime.” Essayli also sought information —with a $50,000 reward—about a man who fired a gun during the Camarillo raids.

The farm's facilities remained closed on Friday. X posted a brief statement explaining that ICE responded to the site and "fulfilled all the investigative safeguards," and that they would provide further updates "if necessary."

EL PAÍS

EL PAÍS

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