The farms in question that were being raided were also host to child labor, which the union is apparently defending the exploitative practice.
On July 10th, immigration enforcement operations were carried out at various cannabis farms in the Camarillo area, with authorities reportedly acting on intel that illegal aliens were being hired to work the fields in question.
But what started as a simple immigration enforcement operation morphed into a chaotic scene, with authorities eventually discovering the use of migrant child labor at the farms.
Anti-ICE protesters were on scene during the raids, resulting in various clashes between law enforcement and the present agitators.
Amid the commotion, farm workers were attempting to hide and flee from ICE agents, which one farm worker’s efforts to avoid detention resulted in tragedy.
According to reports, an unnamed farm worker had apparently scaled up a green house at the scene to ostensibly avoid apprehension, culminating in the farm worker falling from 30 feet to the ground.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement on the incident, saying, “This man was not in and has not been in CBP or ICE 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. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
While the enforcement operations carried out at the Glass House Farms-owned fields were initially motivated over evidence of undocumented laborers, authorities claim the scope of the alleged illegal workforce went far beyond mere adult illegal aliens being employed at the farms.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott stated that in the aftermath of the unruly scenes that played out at the farms, 10 illegal alien children were discovered working the farms – eight of which were unaccompanied minors.
In a statement released by Glass House Farms following the enforcement operations, the entity claimed they had never knowingly employed illegal aliens, or minors, for that matter.
“Yesterday, Glass House Brands received immigration and naturalization warrants. As per the law, we verified that the warrants were valid and we complied. Workers were detained and we are assisting to provide them legal representation. Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors. We do not expect this to affect operations moving forward. We will provide additional details when applicable,” the statement from Glass House Farms read.
United Farm Workers (UFW), which boasts to have been “fighting for farm worker rights since 1962” on their social media account, blamed ICE agents conducting the enforcement operations for the overall fallout of the incident.
In a statement released by UFW, the union likened immigration enforcement to “violent and cruel federal actions” that “terrorize American communities.”
When confronting the allegations of child laborers being discovered at the farms raided earlier in July, UFW went on the defensive, asserting that child labor is perfectly legal in the farming industry.
While it’s true California allows for some degree of youth employment as young as 12 in the agricultural industry, specifically during “non-school hours”, the employment of undocumented workers – adults and minors alike – still runs afoul of federal law.
Furthermore, in cases of unaccompanied minors, the legal implications become more severe if a human trafficking element is at play.
