Cannabis farmworker in California is on life support after chaotic federal immigration raid, family says
LOS ANGELES — A farmworker at a Southern California cannabis farm is in critical condition after being injured during a chaotic immigration raid by federal officers, local officials said Friday.
Jaime Alanis Garcia is hospitalized at Ventura County Medical Center and remains in critical condition, county officials said in a statement authorized by the man’s family.
His family told NBC Los Angeles that the man is on life support using an assistive breathing machine and has “catastrophic” injuries. He has a broken neck, broken skull and a severed artery, a niece said.
The United Farm Workers had previously said Garcia, an employee of Glass House Farms, died after falling some 30 feet.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” UFW President Teresa Romero said in a statement to NBC News.
Immigration officials said in a statement that Garcia was not in federal custody at the time of the fall.
“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.”
Outside federal agents lobbed less-lethal weapons and tear gas at protesters who gathered at the Camarillo grow house Thursday while employees were being rounded up and arrested inside.
Officers pepper-sprayed a disabled U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and works as a security guard at the facility, the man’s wife told NBC News.
George Retes complied with federal officers when he arrived to check on friends and colleagues who might have been affected by the raids, she said, but instead he was arrested on suspicion of assault, according to immigration officials. A hearing is scheduled Monday.
“He wasn’t even a protester,” Guadalupe Torres said of her husband. “They smashed his window, and after they smashed his window, they pepper-sprayed him.”
Aerial footage from NBC Los Angeles showed farm equipment being loaded up into tow trucks and people standing around in handcuffs.
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday night that he watched the protests “in disbelief” as unruly demonstrators threw rock and bricks at cars belonging to federal agents. He directed Homeland Security and immigration officials to use “whatever means is necessary” to arrest people who do not obey the law.
At a cultivation center in Carpinteria owned by Glass House Farms, manager Edgar Rodriguez said federal officers assaulted and handcuffed him after he repeatedly asked them to identify themselves and provide a warrant.
Rodriguez was standing behind a window when 10 unidentified men in fatigues arrived Thursday morning in unmarked cars and one armored vehicle.
Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen, said he asked the men several times to identify themselves and provide a reason for arriving heavily armed. The officers refused and responded by saying they were “not ICE” but did not specify which agency they were from.
One of the officers can be seen in video obtained exclusively by NBC News attempting to coax Rodriguez outside by telling him he wouldn’t be harmed.
“I’m just trying to talk to you. We’re not here for you,” the officer said in the video. “We have a federal warrant. We have a right to be here. Please come out.”
“I got you,” the officer said as Rodriguez began to tentatively leave his post.