ICE Raid of California Cannabis Farm Leaves 1 Worker Dead
By Reuters | 11 Jul, 2025

While detaining about 200 migrant workers on a cannabis farm ICE agents caused injuries to a worker leading to his death a day later.

A California farmworker died on Friday from injuries sustained a day earlier when U.S. immigration agents raided a cannabis operation and arrested hundreds of workers, according to a farmworker advocacy group.

Dozens of migrant-rights activists faced off with federal agents in rural Southern California on Thursday. It was the latest escalation of President Donald Trump's campaign to deport all immigrants in the U.S. illegally. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that approximately 200 people in the country illegally were arrested in the raid, which targeted two locations of the cannabis operation Glass House Farms. 

Agents also found 10 migrant minors at the farm, the statement said. The facility is under investigation for child labor violations, said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott in a post on X. 

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Several farmworkers were injured and one died on Friday from injuries sustained after a 30-foot fall from a building during the raid, said Elizabeth Strater, national vice president of the United Farm Workers. 

U.S. citizens were detained during the raid and some are still unaccounted for, Strater said. 

Some citizen workers who were detained reported only being released from custody after deleting photos and videos of the raid from their phones, said UFW President Teresa Romero in a statement. 

The DHS did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the group's statements.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)