CAMARILLO: A farm worker has died after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California, his family said on Saturday.
Raids on agricultural sites Thursday resulted in the arrests of 200 undocumented migrants, as part of US President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging anti-immigration crackdown, and clashes between law enforcement officials and protesters.
The farm worker’s family had started a page on the fundraising platform GoFundMe to help support his relatives in Mexico. On Saturday, the page posted an update to say he had “passed away.”
Trump campaigned for the presidency on a harsh anti-immigration platform, likening undocumented migrants to “animals” and “monsters,” and since taking office he has delivered on promises to conduct a massive deportation drive.
On Friday, he called demonstrators involved in attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “slimeballs” and said they should be arrested.
The chaotic raid on the cannabis plantation in Ventura County, about 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles, saw the worker who later died being chased by ICE agents, his family said.
“My uncle Jaime was just a hard-working, innocent farmer,” said a post on the GoFundMe page. “He was chased by ICE agents, and we were told he fell 30ft (9 meters).”
The page described his injuries as “catastrophic.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman, said he was never in 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,” McLaughlin said. “(Customs and Border Patrol) immediately called a medevac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
DHS said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued “from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.”
Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has “never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”
DHS said more than 500 “rioters” had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers.
Tear gas was used against the protesters, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles.
The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a $50,000 reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had watched footage of “thugs” throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing “tremendous damage.”
Trump said he was authorizing law enforcement officers who are “on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so.”
“I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,” he said.
Trump has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks.
The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against round-ups of undocumented migrants by federal agents.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.
The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday, as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks.
“We’ve been here since six this morning asking questions but they’re not giving us any information,” said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday.
“I just want to know how he’s doing,” Munoz said. “Bring him back to me and if it’s time for us to leave, we’ll leave.
“The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.”
