Farm worker dies after US immigration raid in California cannabis farm
The incident occurred during a crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, part of President Donald Trump's intensified anti-immigration measures.
Raids on agricultural sites in Ventura County, about 90 kilometers from Los Angeles, led to the arrest of 200 undocumented migrants.
The worker's family set up a GoFundMe page to support relatives in Mexico, later updating it to announce his death. 'My uncle Jaime was just a hard-working, innocent farmer,' the post read. 'He was chased by ICE agents, and we were told he fell 9 meters.'
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated the worker was never in custody.
'Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell,' said DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
Authorities called for emergency medical assistance, but the worker succumbed to what the family described as 'catastrophic' injuries.
The raids targeted marijuana-growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo, with DHS reporting the rescue of 10 children from potential exploitation.
Glass House Brands, the farm owner, denied violating hiring laws or employing minors.
Protests erupted during the operation, with over 500 demonstrators attempting to disrupt the raid.
Tear gas was deployed after some protesters threw projectiles at law enforcement vehicles.
Four US citizens face charges for assaulting officers, while a $50,000 reward is offered for the arrest of a suspect who allegedly fired at police.
President Trump condemned the protesters on Truth Social, calling them 'slimeballs' and authorizing ICE to use 'whatever means necessary' to stop assaults on officers.
His administration has clashed with California's Democratic leadership over immigration enforcement, including the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month.
Governor Gavin Newsom argued the troops were unnecessary, but legal challenges to remove them have failed.
Meanwhile, workers at the Camarillo farm waited for answers.
'We've been here since six this morning asking questions, but they're not giving us any information,' said Saul Munoz, whose son was detained.
'The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.' - AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Analysis-Rwandan rebels' fate clouds Trump's vision for mineral-rich Congo
(Reuters) -Moves to end fighting in eastern Congo that are essential to U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for a mining bonanza in the region are meant to get underway by Sunday, but the future of a small rebel group has emerged as one of the major obstacles. A U.S.-brokered peace agreement signed last month by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers was designed to halt violence that escalated this year with a lightning advance in the Democratic Republic of Congo by M23 rebels. Rwanda denies allegations from the U.N. and Western governments that it is fighting alongside the M23 rebels to gain access to Congo's minerals. Rwanda says its troops are there to tackle what it describes as an existential threat from thousands of Rwandan Hutu rebels known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Security experts and diplomats say the FDLR, which includes remnants of Rwanda's former army and militias that carried out the 1994 Rwandan genocide, boasts only a few hundred combatants and is not a significant battlefield force. But the peace agreement explicitly requires Congo to "neutralise" the FDLR as Rwanda withdraws from Congolese territory, underscoring the group's importance to the fate of Trump's diplomacy. Both the Congolese operations against the FDLR and the Rwandan withdrawal are supposed to start by Sunday and conclude by the end of September. U.N. experts said in a report this month that Rwanda, along with M23, is trying to seize control of mineral-rich territory. Kigali responded that the presence of the "genocidal" FDLR "necessitates the defence posture in our border areas". The U.N. experts also accused the Congolese military of relying on the FDLR in its fight against M23. A spokesperson for Congo's government did not respond to a request for comment on that question, but Kinshasa has said it is on board with ensuring any threat posed by the FDLR is "definitively eradicated", including by voluntary disarmament. It has also accused Rwanda of using the FDLR as a pretext for deploying on Congolese territory. Congolese researcher Josaphat Musamba said it was not possible for Congo to rid the region of FDLR fighters given that M23 holds much of the territory where the FDLR now operates. "It would be feasible if the Rwandan-backed rebellion were not active and threatening to conquer other territories," said Musamba, a Ph.D. candidate at Ghent University who is from eastern Congo and studies the conflict there. Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada who specialises in Africa's Great Lakes region, said lack of progress against the FDLR could be cited by Rwanda as a reason to keep its troops deployed in eastern Congo past September, throwing off Washington's timeline. "It would be fairly easy for Rwanda to claim that Congo is not abiding by its side of the deal - that its operations against the FDLR are not serious enough, have not been successful enough - and therefore to drag its feet," Stearns said. A spokesperson for Rwanda's government did not respond to a request for comment on its approach to the FDLR. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on July 4 that Rwanda was committed to implementing the deal, but that it could fail if Congo did not live up to its promises to neutralise the FDLR. APPEAL TO TRUMP Trump said on July 9 the Congolese and Rwandan presidents would travel to the United States in the "next couple of weeks" to sign the peace agreement. They are also expected to sign bilateral economic packages that would bring billions of dollars of investment into countries rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. There has been no further word on a date. While Washington has hosted negotiations between Congo and Rwanda, Qatar has hosted separate direct talks between Congo and M23. On Saturday the two sides agreed to sign a separate peace deal by August 18. M23 currently has no concrete plans to withdraw from the territory it controls. The FDLR has urged Trump not to green-light a Congolese offensive against it. A July 2 letter to Trump from Victor Byiringiro, the FDLR's acting president, said attacking the FDLR would jeopardise the safety of Congolese civilians as well as more than 200,000 Rwandan refugees. In written responses to questions from Reuters, FDLR spokesperson Cure Ngoma said only "a frank, sincere, and inclusive dialogue among Rwandans" could bring peace, though Rwanda has repeatedly ruled out such talks with the group. Trump expects Congo and Rwanda to abide by the peace deal "which will foster lasting stability and prosperity in the region," Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said in response to Reuters questions about the FDLR's future. "All armed groups must lay down their arms and work within the framework of the peace process." The fighting has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more this year, while escalating the risk of a return to the kind of full-scale regional war which led to the deaths of millions of Congolese in 1998-2003. (Reporting by Sonia RolleyAdditional reporting and writing by Robbie Corey-BouletEditing by Philippa Fletcher)
Free Malaysia Today
2 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Japan's PM Ishiba to announce resignation next month, says Mainichi
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to meet ruling party heavyweights later today for discussions on the election outcome. (AP pic) TOKYO : Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to announce his resignation by the end of next month, the Mainichi newspaper reported today. Ishiba is facing growing opposition from within his Liberal Democratic Party for his vow to stay in power despite the ruling coalition's bruising defeat in Sunday's upper house election. According to the Yomiuri daily, Ishiba told his close associates yesterday evening that he would explain how he would take responsibility for the election loss once a solution was reached on trade negotiations. In a post on Truth Social posted today, Asian hours, US President Donald Trump said he had just completed a 'massive' deal with Japan that included US$550 billion in investments into the US. Speaking after Trump's post, Ishiba said he was ready to meet or speak over the phone with Trump after being briefed on the details by Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, who has been in Washington for trade talks. 'I can't say until I scrutinise the outcome of the agreement,' Ishiba told reporters when asked how the deal with Washington could affect his decision on whether to step down. In explaining his decision to stay on, Ishiba has stressed the need to avoid creating a political vacuum as Japan faced challenges including difficult trade negotiations with the US that would have a huge impact on the export-reliant economy. 'I will stay in office and do everything in my power to chart a path toward resolving these challenges,' Ishiba said in a news conference on Monday, adding that he intended to speak directly with Trump as soon as possible and deliver tangible results. Ishiba is expected to meet ruling party heavyweights later today for discussions on the election outcome.
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
White House unveils artificial intelligence policy plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House released an artificial intelligence (AI) policy plan on Wednesday spelling out priorities for the U.S. to achieve "global dominance" in the sector. U.S. President Donald Trump's plan calls for open-source and open-weight AI models to be made freely available by developers for anyone in the world to download and modify. The plan also calls for the Commerce Department to research Chinese AI models for alignment with Chinese Communist Party talking points and censorship. As previously reported by Reuters, it adds the federal government should not allow AI-related federal funding to be directed toward states with "burdensome" regulations. (Reporting by Chris Sanders, writing by Maiya Keidan)
