Federal agents block people protesting an ICE immigration raid at a nearby licensed cannabis farm on July 10 near Camarillo, Calif. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

A cannabis farmworker who was critically injured during a chaotic immigration raid by federal authorities in Southern California died Saturday, according to his family.

Jaime Alanis Garcia’s death came days after he fell roughly 30 feet during a raid by federal immigration authorities at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, a city about 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Garcia’s family told NBC Los Angeles that he broke his neck and skull in the fall and was placed on life support shortly afterward — until his wife could travel from Mexico to be by his side before he died.

“His wife and parents decided today to let him rest. He has passed away,” his niece said in a statement Saturday.

Jaime Alanis Garcia. (Yesenia Duran / Gofundme)

His family acknowledged to NBC Los Angeles that Garcia would not have survived the past fews days had he not been connected to an assistive breathing machine.

Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, the labor union that has long represented California field hands from Mexico and other points outside the United States, said in a statement Saturday night that Garcia’s death has left the organization anguished.

“Our hearts are heavy for the grieving family of Jaime Alanis, who died from injuries sustained during a chaotic raid on Thursday,” she said. “We’ll do everything we can to support them.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment.

Immigration officials said in a statement Friday that Garcia was not in federal custody when he fell.

“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

The raid drew hundreds of demonstrators, some of whom threw rock and bricks at cars belonging to federal agents. Immigration officers “faced assaults, violence, and even bullets fired at them,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi said in a post on X on Saturday.

In response, federal agents deployed less-lethal weapons and tear gas at the protesters, while employees were being arrested inside the cannabis grow house.

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday night that he watched the protests “in disbelief,” adding that immigration authorities should use “whatever means is necessary” to arrest people who do not obey the law.

The cannabis farm where Garcia worked was one of two Glass House properties federal officers raided Thursday.

Noem said in Saturday’s X post that the operation led to the arrest of 319 undocumented migrants. Fourteen children were also “rescued” from “potential forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking,” she said.

Romero, of the United Farm Workers, said those children should be given an opportunity to obtain their own legal counsel “to protect them from further harm.”

She said farm workers are not protected under child labor laws that might otherwise exclude them from such work. “Detaining and deporting children is not a solution,” Romero said.

The raids came more than a month after protests against similar operations in Los Angeles virtually shut down parts of the city and captured the nation’s attention.

In response, Trump took the rare step of deploying the National Guard to quell protesters.

On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, signed a directive requiring city departments to submit preparedness plans detailing how employees, including contractors, should respond if approached by federal immigration authorities.

Romero said United States citizens were among those rounded up during the law enforcement action in Camarillo.

“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” she said.

She touted a federal court’s temporary restraining order against U.S. immigration enforcement in cases where officers lack reasonable suspicion and target people based on how they look, the type of work they do, where they’re located, or whether they speak Spanish or English with an accent.

The suit was brought by UFW, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the ACLU and other civil rights and migrant organizations, and it was supported by the state of California, the city of Los Angeles and other jurisdictions.

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The raid on the cannabis plantation saw the worker who later died being chased by ICE agents.

– A farm worker has died after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California, his family said on July 12.

Raids on agricultural sites on July 10 resulted in the arrests of 200 undocumented migrants , as part of US President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging anti-immigration crackdown, and clashes between law enforcement officials and protesters.

The farm worker’s family had started a page on the fund-raising platform GoFundMe to help support his relatives in Mexico. On July 12, the page posted an update to say he had “passed away”.

Mr Trump campaigned for the presidency on a harsh anti-immigration platform, likening undocumented migrants to “animals” and “monsters”, and since taking office he has delivered on promises to conduct a massive deportation drive.

On July 11, he called demonstrators involved in attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “slimeballs” and said they should be arrested.

The chaotic raid on the cannabis plantation in Ventura County, about 90km from Los Angeles, saw the worker who later died being chased by ICE agents, his family said.

“My uncle Jaime was just a hard-working, innocent farmer,” said a post on the GoFundMe page. “He was chased by ICE agents, and we were told he fell 30ft (9m).”

The page described his injuries as “catastrophic”.

Ms Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman, said he was never in custody.

“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30ft,” Ms McLaughlin said. “(Customs and Border Patrol) immediately called a medevac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

DHS said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana-growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on July 10, and 10 children were rescued “from potential exploitation, forced labour, and human trafficking”.

Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has “never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors”.

DHS said more than 500 “rioters” had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers.

Tear gas was used against the protesters, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles.

The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a US$50,000 (S$64,000) reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers.

American dream ‘no longer’

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said he had watched footage of “thugs” throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing “tremendous damage”.

Mr Trump said he was authorising law enforcement officers who are “on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these slimeballs, using whatever means is necessary to do so”.

“I am giving total authorisation for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the public,” he said.

Mr Trump has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks.

The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June to quell protests against round-ups of undocumented migrants by federal agents.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.

The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on July 11, as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and pay cheques.

“We’ve been here since six this morning asking questions but they’re not giving us any information,” said Mr Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on July 10.

“I just want to know how he’s doing,” Mr Munoz said. “Bring him back to me and if it’s time for us to leave, we’ll leave.

“The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.” AFP

Federal immigration authorities said Saturday they arrested more than 300 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally in raids Thursday on two California cannabis farm sites as protesters engaged in a tense standoff with authorities during an operation at one of the farms. One farm worker also died after sustaining injuries during one of the raids, a family member of the victim confirmed to CBS News Saturday.

A senior official with the Department of Homeland Security said a total of 319 arrests were made by federal agents Thursday at the two cannabis farms.

In a previous statement Friday, DHS said 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.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection were both part of the operation, Friday’s statement said.

Two DHS officials told CBS News on Friday that federal agents had criminal warrants related to the harboring and employment of immigrants in the U.S. illegally when conducting the operation at the cannabis farm.

Four U.S. citizens were arrested for “assaulting or resisting officers,” the department said.

“We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who assaults or doxes federal law enforcement,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the DHS statement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers make an arrest after pulling a person out of their vehicle outside a Federal Immigration raid at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, on July 10, 2025. BLAKE FAGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of one person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents. Some protesters were also captured on video throwing rocks.

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.

In a post to Truth Social on Friday night that appeared to be in reference to the violence during the Camarillo protest, President Trump said he was “directing Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and Border Czar, Tom Homan, to instruct all ICE, Homeland Security, or any other Law Enforcement Officer who is on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so.”

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 it “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.

On Friday night, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt immigration raids in Southern California in response to a lawsuit from the ACLU and immigrant rights groups.

One worker dies, several people hurt during Camarillo farm raid, protests

The United Farm Workers union Friday reported the death of a Camarillo farm worker injured during the raid prematurely late Friday, but the Ventura County Medical Center later issued a statement authorized by the family saying he was still on life support. On Saturday, the niece of the farm worker confirmed to CBS News that he had died.

“With heavy hearts my uncle has passed away,” Yesenia Duran told CBS News in a statement Saturday.

The circumstances regarding exactly how he was injured were unclear, although in a social media post Friday evening, DHS said the worker in question had fallen from the roof a greenhouse. DHS said the worker “was not in and has not been in” the custody of Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet,” DHS said. “CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

On Friday, Andrew Dowd, a spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department, had reported that at least 12 people were injured during the raid and protest. 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 Friday he did not have information on the extent of the injuries of those hospitalized.

The hospital Friday did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Protesters clash with federal immigration agents

Relatives and advocates headed to the farm about 50 miles 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.

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.

Several workers hid throughout the farm during the raid, emerging Friday morning. They included Jesus, whose niece, Jennifer Martinez, spoke to CBS News.

“They’re just here working, living,” Martinez told CBS News. “They’re just here tearing families apart and terrorizing them.”

Ruby Ginez told CBS News that several of her relatives worked at the farm.

“An aunt was taken,” Ginez said. “A mom was taken. It could be a citizen, not a U.S. citizen, it doesn’t matter.”

Ginez disclosed that she herself was pulled over by ICE recently while taking her child to school and had to prove she was a U.S. citizen.

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.

A cannabis farmworker who was critically injured during a chaotic immigration raid by federal authorities in Southern California died Saturday, according to his family.

Jaime Alanis Garcia’s death came days after he fell roughly 30 feet during a raid by federal immigration authorities at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, a city about 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Garcia’s family told NBC Los Angeles that he broke his neck and skull in the fall and was placed on life support shortly afterward — until his wife could travel from Mexico to be by his side before he died.

“His wife and parents decided today to let him rest. He has passed away,” his niece said in a statement Saturday.

Jaime Alanis Garcia. Yesenia Duran / Gofundme

His family acknowledged to NBC Los Angeles that Garcia would not have survived the past fews days had he not been connected to an assistive breathing machine.

Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, the labor union that has long represented California field hands from Mexico and other points outside the United States, said in a statement Saturday night that Garcia’s death has left the organization anguished.

“Our hearts are heavy for the grieving family of Jaime Alanis, who died from injuries sustained during a chaotic raid on Thursday,” she said. “We’ll do everything we can to support them.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment.

Immigration officials said in a statement Friday that Garcia was not in federal custody when he fell.

“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

The raid drew hundreds of demonstrators, some of whom threw rock and bricks at cars belonging to federal agents. Immigration officers “faced assaults, violence, and even bullets fired at them,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi said in a post on X on Saturday.

In response, federal agents deployed less-lethal weapons and tear gas at the protesters, while employees were being arrested inside the cannabis grow house.

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday night that he watched the protests “in disbelief,” adding that immigration authorities should use “whatever means is necessary” to arrest people who do not obey the law.

The cannabis farm where Garcia worked was one of two Glass House properties federal officers raided Thursday.

Noem said in Saturday’s X post that the operation led to the arrest of 319 undocumented migrants. Fourteen children were also “rescued” from “potential forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking,” she said.

Romero, of the United Farm Workers, said those children should be given an opportunity to obtain their own legal counsel “to protect them from further harm.”

She said farm workers are not protected under child labor laws that might otherwise exclude them from such work. “Detaining and deporting children is not a solution,” Romero said.

The raids came more than a month after protests against similar operations in Los Angeles virtually shut down parts of the city and captured the nation’s attention.

In response, Trump took the rare step of deploying the National Guard to quell protesters.

On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, signed a directive requiring city departments to submit preparedness plans detailing how employees, including contractors, should respond if approached by federal immigration authorities.

Romero said United States citizens were among those rounded up during the law enforcement action in Camarillo.

“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” she said.

She touted a federal court’s temporary restraining order against U.S. immigration enforcement in cases where officers lack reasonable suspicion and target people based on how they look, the type of work they do, where they’re located, or whether they speak Spanish or English with an accent.

The suit was brought by UFW, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the ACLU and other civil rights and migrant organizations, and it was supported by the state of California, the city of Los Angeles and other jurisdictions.

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

SAN FRANCISCO — A farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid this week at a California cannabis facility died Saturday of his injuries.

Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first known person to die during one of the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations. Yesenia Duran, Alanis’ niece, confirmed his death to The Associated Press.

Duran posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe that her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to a wife and daughter in Mexico. Alanis worked at the farm for 10 years, his family said.

The United Farm Workers reported Alanis’ death prematurely late Friday. The Ventura County Medical Center later issued a statement authorized by the family saying he was still on life support.

“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the UFW said recently in a statement on the social platform X. The union does not represent workers at the raided farm.

The Department of Homeland Security said it executed criminal search warrants Thursday at Glass House Farms facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria. Glass House is a licensed cannabis grower. The farm in Camarillo also grows tomatoes and cucumbers.

Garcia called family to say he was hiding and possibly was fleeing agents before he fell about 30 feet (9 meters) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.

Agents arrested some 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, DHS said in a statement. Alanis was not among them, the agency said.

“This man was not in and has not been in CBP or ICE custody,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30 feet. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

Four U.S. citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers,” according to DHS, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.

During the raid crowds of people gathered outside the facility 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, and people ultimately retreated amid acrid green and white billowing smoke.

Glass House 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.

“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it said.

The business was co-founded by Graham Farrar and Kyle Kazan. Farrar has donated to California Democrats including Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump, according to campaign finance records. Kazan has donated to both Democrats and Republicans.