A new raid by ICE officials led to chaos and one death on a cannabis farm.
“A California farmworker died on Friday from injuries sustained a day earlier when U.S. immigration agents raided a cannabis operation and arrested hundreds of workers, according to a farmworker advocacy group.
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 U.S. illegally.
The Trump 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 U.S., according to government estimates.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that approximately 200 people in the country illegally were arrested in the raid, which targeted two locations of the cannabis operation Glass House Farms.
Agents also found 10 migrant minors at the farm, the statement said. The facility is under investigation for child labor violations, said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott in a post on X . . .
The scene at the farm on Thursday was chaotic, with federal agents wearing helmets and face masks using tear gas and smoke cannisters on angry protesters, according to photos and videos of the scene.
Several farmworkers 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, which 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.”
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