Day after federal immigration raid at Camarillo farm, family members search for missing loved ones

The day after federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, family members returned to the area to look for loved ones who they say hid overnight.

The day after federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, family members returned to the area to look for loved ones who they say hid overnight.

The day after federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, family members returned to the area to look for loved ones who they say hid overnight.

The day after federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, family members returned to the area to look for loved ones who they say hid overnight.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (KABC) — The day after federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, family members returned to the area on Friday to search for missing loved ones, some of whom hid from authorities overnight.

Several families were seen waiting outside an entrance to Glass House Farms, a sprawling facility that was the scene of a chaotic confrontation between protesters and authorities on Thursday.

Shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, one man emerged from the grounds of the farm where he was employed and was greeted by two relatives who smiled broadly with relief. The man, identified only as Jesus, made his way to a waiting car and declined to answer questions from a throng of reporters.

The day after federal agents conducted an immigration raid at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, family members returned to the area to search for loved ones who they say hid overnight.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” his niece, Yenyfer Martinez, told ABC7. “I can’t even explain it. We’re just so happy to have him home. And now he’s not coming back here.”

“It’s inhumane, what they’re doing,” Martinez told reporters, referring to immigration agents. Of the farm’s employees, she said: “They’re just here working, trying to make a living, and (federal authorities are) just here tearing families apart and terrorizing.”

Brenda and Margarita were at the farm to retrieve the vehicle of a farmworker now in immigration custody.

“He was FaceTiming her, and he showed what was going on, that they were surrounded,” Margarita said. “And he put the phone up to the sky and showed the helicopters. And he says, ‘I got to go.'”

One man who identified himself as a U.S. citizen and worker at the farm shared a video he recorded of the raid. In the video, agents holding weapons tell him to stop recording.

The man who recorded the video says he told them he was a U.S. citizen, and that the agents ignored and detained him from around 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Thursday.

He says he also witnessed a violent arrest and tried to intervene, telling ABC7, in part, “…I saw that they were on top of a young man… They had him on the ground… There were like five ICE agents on top of him… They were pushing his face into the ground…”

He says another U.S. citizen at the farm, looking for his mother, was in his vehicle, and that without giving him time to step out, agents broke his window and dragged him out. He also described what he saw amongst the workers.

“…I saw that some women started to cry and scream, and well, they wanted to call their families… They would not let them take out their phone; they would yell at them,” he said.

Brenda says she’s asking for justice. Her brother-in-law was taken during the raid — a father of a 2-month-old and a 4-year-old.

“Justice, because a lot of innocent people, all of their families, have been left standing alone in this place. They were the support of the whole family. And I’m not saying this just because of my brother-in-law, but because of all the people I’ve seen suffering and crying on the news,” she said in Spanish.

Margarita says she was later able to get in contact with the brother-in-law and spoke with him briefly.

During the previous day’s melee at Glass House Farms, which bills itself as the largest cannabis farm in the world, authorities threw canisters that sprayed what looked like smoke into the air to disperse the crowd.

Vehicles from Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection blocked the road in the largely agricultural area lined with fields and greenhouses. There were military-style vehicles and a helicopter flying overhead.

Video from AIR7 showed dozens of demonstrators gathered on a road between fields where uniformed officers stood in a line across from them. White and green smoke filled the air as protesters retreated. Protesters shouted at agents wearing camouflage gear, helmets and gas masks. It wasn’t clear why the authorities threw the canisters or if they released chemicals like tear gas.

Aerial footage showed a man apparently firing a handgun in the direction of the agents as he and others fled. The suspect remained at large, and the FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to his conviction.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers “faced gunfire” while conducting operations at two marijuana grow sites in Camarillo and Carpinteria.

“During the operation, at least 10 migrant children were rescued from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking,” said the news release, which included a photo of the agents posing with the 10 minors. All of the faces in the image were blurred.

“Federal officers also arrested approximately 200 illegal aliens from both sites,” the Homeland Security statement said.

The FBI is offering a reward up to $50,000 for information after a man was allegedly seen firing a weapon toward several agents during the clash with protesters.

Glass House Farms said on social media that it was visited by officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and “fully complied with agent search warrants.”

It’s legal to grow and sell cannabis in California with proper licensing. State records show the company has multiple active licenses to cultivate cannabis.

Karen Martinez’s boyfriend, who works at Glass House Farms, recorded video of federal agents during the raid as he attempted to flee.

“Before he got arrested, he FaceTime’d me and he just told me ‘I love you,'” Martinez said.

Reina Mendoza was among those who went to the farm to search for their loved ones after the raid. She said she did not know her father’s whereabouts.

“As long as he is safe, it doesn’t matter,” she told reporters in Spanish, her voice choked with emotion. “If they detained him, then that’s OK. I just want to know my dad is alive, that he is OK.”

The incident comes as federal immigration enforcement agents have ramped up arrests in Southern California, heading to car washes, farms and Home Depot parking lots to take people into custody while stoking widespread fear among immigrant communities.

The Trump administration has had the National Guard providing protection to federal immigration agents carrying out the raids, and this week it sent a large caravan with guns and horses to a park in Los Angeles.

A person was spotted allegedly firing a weapon at federal agents during a chaotic clash between protesters and agents following a raid near Camarillo.

Andrew Dowd, spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department, said they were dispatched around 12:15 p.m. Thursday to the area to provide emergency medical aid. Crews took three people to nearby hospitals, he said, and the incident is ongoing.

Dowd said he had no information on the types of injuries or medical emergencies sustained, and he did not have any details of the people sent to hospitals. He said he had no information on what law enforcement was doing there.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.