Violent rioters clashed with federal immigration officers on Thursday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection raided two Southern California cannabis farms, one of which is now under investigation for child labor violations.
Ten illegal immigrant minors, eight of whom were unaccompanied, were rescued from the Camarillo Glass House farm. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott confirmed that feds have put the farm under investigation for child labor violations.
“This is Newsom’s California,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security arrested dozens of illegal immigrants during the raid and “arrested multiple individuals for impeding [the] operation,” U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said. The FBI is currently searching for one of those individuals, who appeared to shoot a firearm at law enforcement.
“People are welcome to protest . . . but they can’t impede us from doing our job, that’s a felony,” border czar Tom Homan said on Friday. “What happened in California is just another example of protesters becoming criminals and they’ve been emboldened by even members of Congress who compare ICE to Nazis.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom said, in response to Scott’s investigation, that “California prosecutes child exploiters and traffickers. Trump tear-gasses children, rips them from their parents, and deports farmworkers.”
The Department of Homeland Security doubled down, asking Newsom, “Why are there children working at a marijuana facility, Gavin?” in a social media post.
Thursday’s battle continues the fraught clash between immigration enforcement and activists who have protested against the Trump administration’s immigration raids in Southern California. In early June, rioters set cars on fire, blocked traffic, and threw objects at law enforcement in Los Angeles in an effort to obstruct ICE agents.
Most recently, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass confronted federal officers during an ICE operation in a local park, which has a large MS-13 influence.
“They need to leave and they need to leave right now because this is unacceptable,” Bass said from the park, whose surrounding neighborhood has a large immigrant presence.
Trump’s plan for illegal farmworkers is unclear. In late June the White House announced a “temporary pass” for illegal immigrants who work at farms and in the hospitality industry.
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he said on Truth Social. “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
Then, in early July, Trump said that illegal farmworkers could stay in the U.S. if farmers “vouched” for them. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said soon after that statement that farmworkers would receive “no amnesty” from deportation.
Authorities have conducted a number of worksite raids in California, including at farms in Ventura County and the San Joaquin Valley.
Democratic lawmakers rushed to defend the cannabis farm now under investigation.
California Representative Jimmy Gomez asked on X, “How many MS-13 gang members are waking up at 3 a.m. to pick strawberries? O’yeah, zero! Trump said he’d go after ‘bad hombres,’ but he’s targeting the immigrant farm workers who feed America. Either he lied — or he can’t tell the difference.”
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego accused Trump of “targeting families that have been here for years picking our food” instead of “prioritizing dangerous criminals.” Gallego continued on to say that “protests are occuring [sic] because the American public knows this is wrong.”