LAS VEGAS — A vigil was held in Las Vegas for Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old man who died following an ICE raid at a Southern California cannabis farm.
Alanis fell 30 feet from a greenhouse roof during the raid and died the next day. The Department of Homeland Security stated that it was executing criminal search warrants and that Alanis was never in ICE custody.
The Las Vegas Party for Socialism and Liberation argued that ICE’s presence on the farm directly caused Alanis’s death. Matthew Becerra, whose grandparents are Mexican immigrants, expressed mixed emotions upon hearing the news.
“Almost feeling like a little too familiar right now,” he said.
During the raid, agents arrested around 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally, though the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Alanis was not among them.
Becerra criticized the raids, saying, “If they’re basically picking up American citizens without really checking where they’re from or their documentation status, it doesn’t matter if one person isn’t safe; nobody is safe.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has previously stated that ICE investigates its targets before deportation.
Becerra says ICE raids are becoming too aggressive.
“It’s frankly disgusting and abhorrently racist,” he said.
In a post on X, Secretary Noem noted an 830 percent increase in assaults against ICE agents.
The Trump administration is currently averaging more than 14,000 deportations per month.
The Las Vegas PSL announced plans to host a protest next week in front of the Henderson Detention Center.
“We are coming at this from a place of love,” Becerra said. “We love our community, we love our family members, and we want to make sure that we all want to stay safe in these turbulent times.”
