Farm Worker Dies After Being Injured During ICE Raid

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

A farm worker is dead after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executed a raid at a Southern California cannabis farm, the United Farm Workers said on Friday.

On Thursday, ICE agents descended upon Glass House Farms in Camarillo, about 50 miles west of Los Angeles. Protesters gathered at the scene and were hit with tear gas as farm workers were being arrested.

ABC 7 Los Angeles reported that during the raid, Jaime Garcia fell 30 feet off a building, “possibly trying to run from federal agents chasing him.” Several other workers were taken and their whereabouts are unknown. That includes a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and disabled veteran, who worked at the farm as a security guard.

“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.

In a separate raid at another Glass House Farms property in Carpinteria, manager Edgar Rodriguez told NBC News that federal agents assaulted and handcuffed him after he repeatedly asked them to identify themselves and present a warrant.

NBC News reported:

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 Rodriquez 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.

Rodriguez said officers escorted him outside and one of them slapped his cellphone out of his hands. He also said agents knelt on his head and neck:

Two other officers then pushed him to the ground, Rodriguez said. His phone fell, and voices can be heard arguing in the background.

Rodriguez said he was handcuffed for more than an hour, and one officer twisted his arm behind his back. The officers knelt on his neck and head, he said, and he began to lose feeling in his hands. He later went to a hospital covered in scratches and bruises, he said.

Rodriguez said his workers were terrified.

“They were really scared,” he said. “They kept saying they didn’t do anything wrong, that they had visas.”

NBC also reported that several citizens were detained and released after they agreed to delete photos and videos of the raid they had taken on their phones.

The FBI said one person appeared to fire a pistol at officers and is offering a $50,000 reward.