Judith Ramos stood in the middle of an agricultural field gazing at an enormous, high-tech greenhouse originally built for growing tomatoes hydroponically, but now also used for cannabis.
Between her and the massive complex owned by Glass House Farms, a California state-licensed cannabis company with stock traded publicly on a Canadian stock exchange, stood a row of federal law enforcement officers.
“My dad is in there,” Ramos told the Ventura County Reporter, as she awaited word on her father, Elias, who worked on the tomato side of the operation, at 5:29 p.m. July 10. “He gave me a call around 11:45 that they (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) were already inside. So, what I last heard was that he was still in there.”
Ramos said her dad is undocumented and she was worried about what would happen to him if he were taken into federal custody.
“I feel like it’s not right because these people are just working here,” the Oxnard resident with two younger sisters said. “They’re not criminals, they’re not doing anything wrong. They’re just working for their families.”
About 200 feet away from where Ramos was standing, about two dozen protestors faced off against a line of federal law enforcement officers with black armored vehicles on Laguna Road. At one point a long row of identical white vans drove along the perimeter of the greenhouse complex down a dirt road, and people on both sides of the protest line stopped for a moment to watch as the caravan of official government vehicles kicked up a big cloud of dust.
Melissa Aguayo of Oxnard sat cross-legged just a few feet in front of federal officers wearing gas masks and carrying a wide assortment of equipment and weapons. She later told the VCReporter what compelled her to sit on the hard asphalt, blasting traditional Mexican and rap music from a large speaker.
“I’m pissed off,” she said. “We’re not bad people. We’re here peacefully…They’re coming where our parents work. Siblings, uncles, aunts, and they’re taking them without letting them even say goodbye to their families.”
Protestor Aileen Alejandre looked each individual officer straight in the eye and asked them direct questions such as, “You guys genuinely don’t feel anything knowing that there’s going to be little kids with parents who aren’t coming home tonight?”
The Oxnard resident later told the VCReporter she’s worried about where people might be taken by ICE.
Aileen Alejandre of Oxnard faced off against federal law enforcement officers, asking them difficult and emotional questions about people impacted by the raid.
“They’re taking kids and they’re leaving them in detention centers where they don’t know anything,” she said. “The parents that don’t even speak English, they’re getting put in places where they’re not getting help, they’re not getting food, they’re not getting water, they’re sleeping on the ground, and it’s just not okay.”
ICE response to inquiries about Glass House raids
Public affairs officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) provided the VCReporter with a statement regarding Glass House Farms on July 11, misstating the day the raid happened, which was actually on Thursday, July 10, and misspelling the name of the city of Carpinteria.
“On July 11, 2025, HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) Ventura executed search warrants (8 USC 1324) pursuant to an investigation into the harboring if [sic] illegal aliens at two marijuana farms in Carpenteria and Camarillo, CA,” the statement read. “Approximately 200 illegal aliens (pending processing and verification) were reported as apprehended from both targeted sites. The search warrants also resulted in the recovery of one firearm and the seizure of employment records.”
ICE officials also gave an account of clashes near Glass House Farms’ 5.5 million-square-foot greenhouse south of Camarillo at 645 Laguna Road, purchased for around $100 million in 2021 and considered the largest greenhouse for growing cannabis anywhere.
“During this operation approximately 500 protestors gathered at the targeted site and violently confronted law enforcement forcing HSI and Border Patrol agents to use less-than-lethal rounds on the crowd,” ICE officials said in the news release. Some government vehicles were damaged, but no law enforcement officers suffered significant injuries during the protests or search warrant execution, officials said.
“One protester discharged a firearm during the protest and his identity is currently being investigated. A shell casing was recovered at the scene in the vicinity where the firearm was discharged,” ICE officials said, adding that a “wanted poster” with a photo of the suspect and a $50,000 reward offer was issued. At least four U.S. citizens were arrested for allegedly assaulting and resisting federal officers, ICE officials said.
U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP) also reported finding juveniles at Glass House Farms.
“HSI is attempting to identify the juveniles, verify their status and determine if they are unaccompanied minors. If verified, HSI will pursue human trafficking and forced labor charges against the owners of the farms,” ICE officials said.
Glass House corporate officials denied employing minors in a July 11 post on the Glass House Brands Inc. X page, adding that the company verified the federal warrants and complied with them.
“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. We will provide additional details when applicable,” the Glass House social media post said.
Federal law enforcement officers block Laguna Road to keep people away from Glass House Farms on July 10.
Worker dies from injuries
A Glass House Farms worker died at a hospital after suffering injuries from a fall during the raid in Camarillo, according to family members.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, set up a GoFundMe titled RIP Jaime Alanís (farm worker @GlassHouseFarms). By July 15 the drive had far surpassed its $50,000 goal to top $165,000. The GoFundMe asks people to allow the family time to lay his body to rest and said he will be taken to his hometown of Huajumbaro, Michoacán where “his wife and daughter are waiting for him.”
Duran said her family is “still looking for justice” as he died due to the “reckless ICE raid.” “My uncle Jaime was just a hard-working, innocent farmer. He has his wife and daughter waiting for him. He was chased by ICE agents, and we were told he fell 30ft,” she stated on the GoFundMe page.
ICE public affairs officials issued a statement to the VCReporter attributable to ICE Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin regarding the Glass House Farms worker who died.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP or ICE custody. Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible,” McLaughlin said.
Congressional clashes
Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, a former U.S. Marine representing part of Ventura County and all of Santa Barbara County, was observed by members of the media and others walking down a public road toward Glass House Farms property in Carpinteria the morning of July 10. Video shared on social media shows federal agents grabbing and stopping Carbajal from getting any closer. Carbajal issued a July 10 statement about what happened.
“Today, I was at Casitas Pass Road in Carpinteria where ICE was conducting a raid using disproportionate displays of force against local farm workers and our agricultural community,” Carbajal said.
“As a member of Congress and representative of the Central Coast, I have the right to conduct oversight and see first-hand what ICE was doing here,” Carbajal continued, adding that as soon as he walked up, he was denied entry and was not allowed to pass, “which was completely unacceptable.”
“There’s been a troubling lack of transparency from ICE since the Trump Administration started, and I won’t stop asking questions on behalf of my constituents. I will be demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security to find out who they detained and where the detainees are being taken. And let me be clear: These militarized ICE raids are not how you keep our communities safe. 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,” the congressmember said.
Glass House Farms owns a 5.5 million-square-foot greenhouse complex south of Camarillo originally designed for growing tomatoes hydroponically.
DHS accuses Carbajal
On Monday, July 14, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an official news release regarding Carbajal.
“U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) was among the mob of rioters who attacked federal immigration authorities as they executed a criminal search warrant at a marijuana facility,” according to the DHS news release, which claims Carbajal “doxed” an ICE employee. Doxxing is the act of making sensitive personal information about an individual public without their consent or knowledge, generally for malicious reasons. Federal officials claimed the employee was injured as a result of Carbajal’s actions.
“Who was subsequently attacked by rioters and sent to the emergency room. During the enforcement operation in Carpinteria, California, Rep. Carbajal spoke to an ICE Public Affairs Specialist, who gave the congressman his business card. The congressman then showed the ICE employee’s business card to the mob, making a target out of him,” ICE officials said.
“The employee was subsequently attacked, with lacerations to his left hand due to a rock being thrown at him. The employee had to go to the emergency room and get stitches for his injury. When ICE announced his actions led to an ICE employee’s injuries, the congressman deflected from his own actions by claiming oversight and falsely labeled the crowd as ‘peaceful protesters.’ Unfortunately, this is just another case of Democratic lawmakers labeling political stunts as oversight while they endanger the safety of ICE personnel,” the news release said, before quoting McLaughlin directly.
“The actions by Representative Carbajal are downright un-American. He dares to claim that his actions were simply congressional oversight, but doxing ICE personnel and inciting a mob of rioters to attack law enforcement is NOT oversight — it’s abominable,” McLaughlin said. “His actions sent an ICE employee to the emergency room. It’s no wonder that ICE agents are facing a 700% increase in assaults when radical members of Congress like Salud Carbajal and LaMonica McIver [D-New Jersey] are openly encouraging and leading their supporters in assaulting law enforcement.”
ICE officials updated the number of people detained during the Glass House raids to “361 illegal aliens” and said 14 migrant children were “rescued” who were “victims of potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.”
Carbajal responded to the DHS news release with another statement later in the afternoon of July 14, calling it, “A blatant attempt to distort what occurred in Carpinteria.”
“DHS and ICE conducted their raid using a disturbing and disproportionate level of force, both on the farm workers they were targeting and the peaceful protesters who gathered to defend their neighbors. I witnessed agents, in full military gear, fire smoke canisters and other projectiles into a crowd of peaceful civilians. Just before I arrived at the scene, witnesses told me the agents threw a stun grenade into the crowd. Several civilians were injured, including a child.”
“This aggressive behavior in a normally quiet part of the Central Coast sparked alarm across our community, prompting a flood of calls and messages to my office from concerned citizens,” Carbajal explained in his news release. “I went to the scene to seek answers and represent my constituents. In response to my questions, an ICE Public Affairs Specialist voluntarily gave me his card in full public view of the dozens of TV cameras, reporters, and livestreaming smartphones that were around us to film the interaction.”
“ICE’s claims of ‘doxxing’ and ‘violent mobs’ are attempts to deflect attention from their unjust tactics, distort the facts to support misleading narratives, and avoid accountability for their aggressive actions that caused injuries and left our community traumatized,” Carbajal said.
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