A farm worker died on Friday after a chaotic raid on a California cannabis operation that saw around 200 undocumented workers arrested, according to his family and federal officials.
About 200 arrested
The Department of Homeland Security said about 200 people in the country illegally were taken into custody during Thursday’s raid on two Glass House Farms sites, and agents also discovered 10 migrant minors on the premises.
Agents used helmets, face masks, tear gas and smoke canisters, creating a chaotic scene as protesters clashed with law enforcement.
Elizabeth Strater, national vice‑president of the United Farm Workers, said the deceased worker, identified as Jaime Alanis through a family GoFundMe page, fell 30 feet from a greenhouse roof during the operation and was pronounced dead at a hospital.
DHS officials maintained agents were not responsible for the death, stating Alanis had not been pursued and climbed to the roof before falling.
Warnings on food supply
California Rural Legal Assistance attorney Angelica Preciado warned that detained workers were pressured to sign voluntary deportation orders and faced threats of life‑long jail terms for working at a cannabis facility.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denied the allegations, saying in an emailed statement that “claims that ICE or CBP denied detainees legal assistance are unequivocally false.”
US District Court Judge Maame Frimpong issued two temporary restraining orders barring the administration from detaining individuals based on racial profiling and from denying detainees access to lawyers, citing violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Judge Frimpong wrote that a “mountain of evidence” showed the government was conducting roving patrols targeting Latinos and then preventing legal representation, a claim the administration disputes.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said there would be “no amnesty” for farm workers, while former President Donald Trump asserted migrant laborers should be allowed to remain on farms.
Farm groups warn that mass deportations of agricultural workers would cripple the nation’s food supply chain, a concern echoed by UFW president Teresa Romero, who called the raids “violent and cruel” and said they terrorise communities and separate families.
Several farm workers were injured in the confrontation, and some citizens detained were only released after deleting photos and videos of the raid from their phones, according to UFW statements.
