- Updated July 11, 10:16 p.m.: Cannabis Business Times editors updated this article to reflect that a farmworker is in "critical condition" after NBC News corrected a report that worker had died.
- Updated July 11, 4:38 p.m.: Cannabis Business Times editors updated this article to include a post on X by Glass House Farms regarding it's response to suggestions that it employed minors.
- Updated July 11, 1:32 p.m.: Cannabis Business Times editors updated this article to include a report of a farmworker suffering potentially fatal injuries.
- Updated July 11, 10:08 a.m.: Cannabis Business Times editors updated this article to include posts on X from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about 10 juveniles, "all illegal aliens," being found at the farm, as well as video footage of what appeared to be a weapon fired by "an unidentified man."
Protests erupted during ICE raids Thursday at two Glass House Farms cannabis sites in California. Rubber bullets and flash bangs rained down on crowds gathering near the Carpinteria facility when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the National Guard clashed with protesters decrying the federal government’s detainment of 10 farm workers, the Santa Barbara Independent wrote.
The licensed cannabis company’s Camarillo facility in Ventura County also faced a large-scale raid and protests.
On July 11, NBC News reported that a farmworker “is in critical condition after being injured during a chaotic immigration raid by federal officers, local officials said Friday.”
“Jaime Alanis Garcia is hospitalized at Ventura County Medical Center and remains in critical condition, county officials said in a statement authorized by the man's family,” according to NBC News. Garcia’s family told NBC Los Angeles “that the man is on life support using an assistive breathing machine and has ‘catastrophic’ injuries. He has a broken neck, broken skull and a severed artery, a niece said.”
As NBC reported, “The United Farm Workers had previously said Garcia, an employee of Glass House Farms, died after falling some 30 feet.” CBT had cited the report earlier.
UFW President Teresa Romero told NBC, “These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families."
The Independent reported that the 805 Immigrant Coalition and 805 UndocuFund confirmed that the raids began just after 10 a.m. on July 10, releasing urgent community alerts about the raids:
“Both locations have multiple ICE vehicles and agents on the ground,” the alert said, calling on citizens to “show up to the scene to protect workers.”
Some of the protesters were unsure who exactly was on the premises. One onlooker told a local reporter with Edhat Santa Barbara, “It’s very hard to make a distinction between agencies here. Are they ICE, police, DEA, military, contractors … who are these guys?”
Protesters later clashed with ICE officials, as a social media video reveals. Rubber bullets, smoke bombs and flash bangs whizzed through the air at the Carpinteria farm in Santa Barbara County, sending protesters running from the attacks.
The Today show posted a video of the “dramatic clashes” in which the media outlet reports that an unidentified man “appear[ed] to fire a weapon.”
In a statement to Coastal View News, Carpinteria City Vice Mayor Mónica Solórzano said she was upset that “the agents felt it was necessary to throw flash-bang and smoke grenades into the crowd, despite the fact that our residents were not being disruptive or violent in any way.”
Later, U.S. House Rep. Salud Carbajal, who was denied entry to the farm, decried the raids as unsafe and militarized. Carbajal told Coastal View News, “This kind of chaos only traumatizes families and tears communities apart. They are also a gross misuse of limited resources and a betrayal of the values that define us as Americans.”
At the Camarillo protests, a man tried to stop a military vehicle by stepping in front, but the vehicle kept going forward, reported ABC7. Eventually, he moved aside, but not before throwing what appeared to be a bottle of water at the windshield.
The Ventura Fire Department took three people to area hospitals, SFGATE reported Thursday.
(Editor’s note: The following was reported prior to the NBC News article stating that a farmworker had died following the raids.) One farmworker suffered "grave injuries," according to Los Angeles Times. "The United Farm Workers union said they were told one worker fell several stories from a greenhouse," the media outlet reported. UFW official Liz Strater told the Times the worker was transported from the farm by ambulance, that the injuries were "catastrophic" and the person is not expected to survive. "The worker’s name was not released, and local law enforcement officials could not immediate provide any details," per the Times.
Camarillo City Councilmember Dr. Martita Martinez-Bravo told ABC7 how the immigration enforcement at these agricultural sites can have a dangerous ripple effect.
"We are in serious trouble,” he said. “The farm working community, the agricultural workforce, was already struggling. They've already been struggling to get workers out on the field. And now with these additional tactics being utilized by the federal government, unfortunately, somebody's gonna have to pay the price, and I think that might be us, and that will also be the agricultural growers whose food may rot.”
Later on Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office issued a critical statement regarding Thursday’s immigration enforcement operations, shining a spotlight on President Donald Trump’s top adviser.
“[White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Stephen Miller's tactics evoke chaos, fear and terror within our communities at every turn,” Newsom said. “At Miller's direction, Trump's agents continue to detain U.S. citizens and racially profile Americans, ripping families apart and disappearing parents and workers into cruel federal detention centers to meet their self-imposed arrest quotas."
Glass House Brands released a statement on its X account, writing, “Glass House Farms were visited today by ICE Officials. The company fully complied with agent search warrants and will provide further updates if necessary.”
ABC7 reported that U.S. Border Patrol served a warrant on the farm “because it’s accused of hiring and harboring undocumented workers.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott posted on X on Thursday—in response to a post by Newsom—that “10 juveniles were found at this marijuana facility - all illegal aliens, 8 of them unaccompanied. It’s now under investigation for child labor violations.”
It is unclear from his post whether the juveniles were employees or protestors.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, however, also responded to Newsom’s post on X, saying: “Why are there children working at a marijuana facility, Gavin?”
In a post on X on July 11, Glass House stated: "Workers were detained and we are assisting to provide them legal representation. Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors. We do not expect this to affect operations moving forward."
(Cannabis Business Times also reached out to Glass House for a comment.)
A social media video from the 805 Immigrant Coalition caught interactions between protesters and ICE agents, with the video uploader asking, “Are these really criminals?”
Glass House sells bulk flower and trim to other producers and offers consumer products through its own and third-party stores. With up to 6 million square feet of cultivation space and 10 retail locations, it has the largest cannabis footprint in the state, according to the company.
Its Q1 2025 report impressed analysts: Retail sales surged 18.4% year-over-year, while California’s overall market declined 13%.
