CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) 鈥 Federal immigration authorities said Friday they arrested about 200 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally in raids a day earlier on two California cannabis farm sites. Protesters engaged in a tense standoff with authorities during an operation at one of the farms.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that authorities executed criminal search warrants in Carpinteria and Camarillo, California, on Thursday. They arrested immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally, and there were also at least 10 immigrant children on site, the statement said.
Four U.S. citizens were arrested for 鈥渁ssaulting or resisting officers,鈥 the department said. Authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of one person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents. One worker who called family to say he was hiding from authorities was on life support after falling and suffering significant injuries.
During the raid, crowds of people gathered outside Glass House Farms in Camarillo to seek information about their relatives and protest immigration enforcement. Authorities clad in military-style helmets and uniforms faced off with the demonstrators. Acrid green and white billowing smoke then forced community members to retreat.
Glass House, a licensed California cannabis grower, said in a statement that immigration agents had valid warrants. The company said workers were detained, and it is helping provide them with legal representation. The farm also grows tomatoes and cucumbers.
鈥淕lass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,鈥 the statement said.
It is legal to grow and sell cannabis in California with proper licensing.
Worker gravely injured
At least 12 people were injured during the raid and protest, said Andrew Dowd, a spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department. Eight were taken to St. John鈥檚 Regional Medical Center and the Ventura County Medical Center, and four were treated at the scene and released. Dowd said he did not have information on the extent of the injuries of those hospitalized.
On Friday, about two dozen people waited outside the farm to retrieve the cars of loved ones and speak to managers. Relatives of Jaime Alanis, who has picked tomatoes at the farm for 10 years, said he called his wife in Mexico during the raid to tell her immigration agents had arrived and that he was hiding with others inside the farm.
鈥淭he next thing we heard was that he was in the hospital with broken hands, ribs and a broken neck,鈥 Juan Duran, Alanis鈥 brother-in-law, said in Spanish
It was not immediately clear how Alanis was injured. A doctor at Ventura County Medical Center told the family that those who brought Alanis to the hospital said he had fallen from the roof of a building.
Alanis had a broken neck, fractured skull and a rupture in an artery that pumps blood to the brain, said his niece Yesenia, who didn鈥檛 want to share her last name for fear of reprisal. He is on life support, she said.
鈥淭hey told us he won鈥檛 make it and to say goodbye,鈥 Yesenia said, crying.
The hospital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Confrontation with authorities
Relatives and advocates headed to the farm about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles to try to find out what was going on, and began protesting outside.
Federal authorities formed a line blocking the road leading through farm fields to the company's greenhouses. Protesters were seen shouting at agents wearing camouflage gear, helmets and gas masks. The billowing smoke drove protesters to retreat. It wasn鈥檛 clear why authorities threw the canisters or if they released chemicals such as tear gas.
Ventura County fire authorities responding to a 911 call of people having trouble breathing said three people were taken to nearby hospitals.
At the farm, agents arrested workers and removed them by bus. Others, including U.S. citizens, were detained at the site for hours while agents investigated.
The incident came as federal immigration agents have ramped up arrests in Southern California at car washes, and Home Depot parking lots, stoking among immigrant communities.
Federal investigations
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Friday that the investigation into immigration and potential child labor violations at the farm is ongoing. No further details of the allegations were provided.
The agency said hundreds of demonstrators attempted to disrupt the operations, leading to the arrest of four Americans.
鈥淲e will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who assaults or doxes federal law enforcement,鈥 Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection were both part of the operation, the statement said.
Family members search for answers
The mother of an American worker said her son was held at the worksite for 11 hours and told her agents took workers鈥 cellphones to prevent them from calling family or filming and forced them to erase cellphone video of agents at the site.
The woman said her son told her agents marked the men鈥檚 hands with ink to distinguish their immigration status. She spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because she feared reprisals from the government.
United Farm Workers said in statement that some U.S. citizens are not yet accounted for.
Maria Servin, 68, said her son has worked at the farm for 18 years and was helping to build a greenhouse. She said she spoke to her son, who is undocumented, after hearing of the raid and offered to pick him up.
鈥淗e said not to come because they were surrounded and there was even a helicopter. That was the last time I spoke to him,鈥 Servin, a U.S. citizen, said in Spanish.
She said she went to the farm anyway but federal agents were shooting tear gas and rubber bullets and she decided it was not safe to stay. She and her daughter returned to the farm Friday and were told her son had been arrested Thursday. They still don鈥檛 know where he is being held.
鈥淚 regret 1,000 times that I didn鈥檛 help him get his documents,鈥 Servin said.
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Taxin reported from Orange County, California, and Rodriguez reported from San Francisco.
