See protesters, family members at an immigration raid near Camarillo
Protesters clash with federal agents in Camarillo
Federal immigration agents descended on a farm outside of Camarillo on July 10, blocking off a road outside the facility and clashing with protesters.
Reports flooded social media on Thursday morning of federal agents arriving at a Glass House Farms facility at 645 Laguna Road. Video posted by 805 Immigrant Coalition, a group that tracks Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, showed men in tactical gear blocking off a roadway.
The Glass House Farms greenhouse complex on Laguna Road is one of the largest licensed cannabis farms in California, with more than 5 million square feet of growing space. The company bought the property from Houweling’s Tomatoes in 2021.
Federal agents also raided a Glass House Farms greenhouse facility in Carpinteria on July 10, according to the Santa Barbara news site Noozhawk. Protestors there faced off with agents in a similar situation to the one near Camarillo.
Glass House officials confirmed the raids in a Tweet, noting that ICE agents provided search warrants.
At the scene, yellow crime scene tape with U.S. Border Patrol markings stretched across Laguna Road. On one side stood what appeared to be masked and armed federal agents. On the other, a crowd of more than 100 people amassed, taunting the agents and yelling expletives.
The face-off was tense. Agents fired projectiles into the crowd, striking several people and hitting at least one in the face. Agents lobbed canisters that emitted yellow or white gas. Protesters stomped several of the canisters until they went out.
The masked agents continued to deploy gas canisters through 1:30 p.m. Some people in the crowd left. Others poured milk on their faces to counteract the gas.
First responders declared a mass casualty incident for the injured as the Oxnard Fire Department and Ventura County Fire Department responded to the scene. By declaring the incident, crews ensured they had ambulances and the proper workers were ready if needed.
County fire spokesman Andrew Dowd said five patients had been transported to area hospitals as of 6:45 p.m. An additional four people were assessed and may have been treated at the scene. Dowd did not have information about the injuries or conditions.
Fire crews were on site to help with injuries, not to provide federal aid, Dowd said.
It was unclear what agents were doing on the farm 100 yards on the other side of the tape, but a line of people, possibly farmworkers, walked along one edge of the farm.
Some of the gathered crowd were protesters. Others were family members of farmworkers.
Jessica Lopez was leaning against a vehicle. She said she got a call from her husband at about 9:30 a.m. saying ICE was in the facility. Lopez, a U.S. citizen, said her undocumented husband worked at Glass House.
“Last time I talked to him, he said he was hiding somewhere,” she said. “They’re taking hardworking people who have had no problems with the law.”
Adrian Garcia, a 25-year-old from Oxnard, previously worked at the farm. He held a sign handed to him by another protester that read “We are essential” in Spanish. Garcia, like others who gathered in the crowd, said he rushed to the scene after hearing from family inside the facility.
Shortly after 2 p.m., a large white bus rolled down Laguna Road from the facility accompanied by what appeared to be a National Guard vehicle.
Gas and pellets were used on the waning crowd. Small puddles of milk dotted the road where protesters treated their eyes from the gas.
Federal agents had moved the line of protesters back, but demonstrators also hurled objects at their vehicles.
Family members of workers kept vigil outside, waiting for word of their loved ones.
Dalia Perez, 30, of Oxnard, said she last heard her mother was in a room at the facility with ICE agents and that her phone was taken away.
“Upset. Helpless,” Perez said of how she was feeling. “(Her mom) hasn’t done anything wrong. She just worked for us to have a better life here.”
Perez said her mother, who is undocumented, has lived in Oxnard for more than 30 years.
“We just want to know if our family is OK,” she said.
Steve Auclair, president of the Ventura County Democratic Party, described the situation at Glass House Farms as “totally outrageous.”
His mother, who is in her mid-60s, was hit by the gas and struck by a projectile. He called it “a military attack on our community.”
“First they came for the farmworker, and now, they’re taking all of us.”
Teresa Romero, the president of United Farm Workers, said union members at the farm have been in contact with staff during the incident, but details on the operation are still unclear.
“All we know is that it’s happening,” Romero said. “There’s no good reason to do this to agricultural areas, to the agricultural industry. These workers are working very hard, and they are just living in panic.”
Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites said the initial operation appeared to be entirely composed of federal agents. The Ventura County Fire Department responded to a medical emergency at the location shortly before noon.
“It just breaks my heart that hard-working people are being rounded up and detained and taken to places unknown,” Rep. Julia Brownley said Thursday. “This is unfair, and it’s unAmerican.”
Brownley, D-Westlake Village, said she had not received any information from federal officials about any actions or detentions.
“That has been (the case) since the very beginning of the Trump administration,” said Brownley, who was driving to the site on Thursday afternoon. “We reach out to Homeland Security and we get no information back.”
Brownley called the recent immigration enforcement actions egregious and immoral.
“It is not who we are as Americans,” she said. “I think there is a way to do it. This is not the way.”
Last month, there were reports President Donald Trump directed ICE to pause most raids on the agricultural industry as well as restaurants and other hospitality businesses.
That didn’t appear to be the case on Thursday.
“They’re going after farmworkers who break their backs to feed the nation,” Brownley said. “They don’t deserve to live in fear, to be intimidated.”
Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, who represents California’s 42nd Assembly District, wrote in a statement posted to social media platform X that she was heartbroken by images of what she called “senseless” raids at local farms. Her district covers a swath of Ventura County, including Camarillo, and portions of Los Angeles County.
“Deporting our field workers does nothing to strengthen the safety of our community but rather, serves to instill fear in immigrant communities and make them less likely to involve law enforcement when crimes do occur.”
Dozens of protesters remained on Laguna Road and flurries of action continued throughout the afternoon.
At about 3:45 p.m., authorities made an announcement on a loud speaker: “This is the police, please make way for emergency vehicles or chemical agents will be deployed.”
A military truck and several SUVs made their way along the road with a siren blaring. Gas was used, sending people scurrying for protection behind a farm fence. Some protesters threw rocks at the vehicles.
Farther down the road at the corner of Laguna and Wood, Oxnard City Councilman Gabe Teran surveyed a line of what appeared to be National Guard trucks and talked about the federal immigration raid.
“They’re terrorizing and targeting people who are foundational to our community,” he said.
Kiara Sosa, 18, of Santa Paula, sat in her vehicle, waiting for word from her mother, an undocumented worker at Glass House. Earlier, her mother, like many workers, had been hiding from federal agents, sparking Sousa’s hopes she would be OK.
The teen was afraid and worried but another emotion was even stronger.
“I’m very angry,” she said. “My parents deserve better.”
At about 4:30 p.m., Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies marched down Laguna Road and cleared the intersection at Wood and Laguna roads of demonstrators. A department official said the agency role was traffic control and keeping the peace.
Farther up Laguna Road, a smaller group of protestors stood across from a line of agents from Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of Immigration, Customs Enforcement.
Among them were sisters Ysennia and Cynthia Martinez of Oxnard.
The sisters said they arrived in the morning, and saw gas and pellet guns deployed on the crowd of demonstrators.
“It is intense. There are no words, it is just pretty sad,” Cynthia Martinez said.
The father of Cynthia’s 11-year-old daughter, Juan, was rounded up in the raid, she said.
“How do you explain to your daughter that her dad just got taken away?” Cynthia Martinez asked.
This story will be updated.
Staff writers Tony Biasotti, Makena Huey and Cheri Carlson contributed to this report.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com.
Isaiah Murtaugh covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236.
