Ten illegal migrant youths, most of them unaccompanied, were found at a California marijuana farm during a tense immigration raid on Thursday, prompting federal officials to launch an investigation into possible child labor violations.
The youngsters, one just 14 years old, were discovered by federal agents at Glass House Farms in Southern California during a chaotic operation in which one protester appeared to fire a gun at authorities, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said on X Thursday.
“This is Newsom’s California,” Scott said in response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who shared a video of the raid.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin revealed Friday the feds “rescued” eight of the minors, who crossed the border “unaccompanied.”
McLaughlin said the alarming situation “looks like exploitation, violation of child labor laws and potentially human trafficking or smuggling.”
Scott announced the child labor probe into the farm in his Thursday night social media post.
The farm’s president, Graham Farrar, is a regular donor to Democratic politicians, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Farrar has donated to the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee’s federal political action committee and Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif, on multiple occasions, according to the records.
He also donated $10,000 to Newsom in 2018, according to California records.
Glass House Brands defended their employment practices and denied hiring kids in a statement posted Friday on X.
“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,” the company wrote.
“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.”
Farrar reacted to the raid, saying “our team has been continually on site and we are focused on taking care of our people and our plants.”
“Know there are lots of questions, we have a lot of them too, as we get more information we will update,” Farrar posted to X.
When immigration and border agents descended on the cannabis farm, they were met by dozens of rioters who tried to block a road between fields.
The screaming mob eventually scattered when agents deployed an unknown substance to control the crowd. Several protesters appeared to hurl rocks at the officers, according to ABC 7.
A masked man also was seen allegedly firing a few shots as he and other protesters scampered away. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the alleged shooter’s arrest.
The feds set up a blockade with military-style vehicles as they clashed with protesters for four hours.
About 200 immigrants were arrested in the raid under suspicions of being in the US illegally, authorities said Friday.
One farm worker died from injuries he sustained during the raid and several others were critically injured, according to the United Farm Workers union.
A source noted that the ICE building “smelled like weed heavily” as the individuals were taken in for processing.
Glass House Farms said on social media that it “fully complied with agent search warrants” presented by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Thursday.
The farm has a permit to grow cannabis in Ventura County, and as of last year, used half of the space for cannabis while half was dedicated to tomatoes and cucumbers, the Ventura County Star reported.
The Biden administration has lost track of roughly 320,000 unaccompanied migrant kids, many of whom are believed to be at risk of sex trafficking, forced labor and other forms of exploitation, according to a government watchdog.
