Trump officials defend immigration raids after California worker dies
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and border security advisor Tom Homan rejected allegations of racial profiling during recent workplace raids, calling the judge's decision flawed. 'We will appeal, and we will win,' Noem said during an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, blaming a Biden-appointed judge for the injunction.
Homan, speaking on CNN, claimed that physical appearance may be considered as one factor in assessing whether someone might be undocumented, though not the sole basis. 'Reasonable suspicion,' he said, allows officers to make stops based on a mix of factors, reported Reuters.
The administration's defense comes days after a large-scale immigration raid at two cannabis farms in Camarillo, California, where 361 people were detained, as per Reuters. The operation was originally reported to have arrested 319 undocumented individuals, according to DHS, and also led to the identification of 14 migrant minors allegedly at risk of exploitation.
During the raid at Glass House Farms on Thursday, one worker, Jaime Alanis Garcia, sustained fatal injuries after falling nearly 30 feet from a greenhouse rooftop. Garcia's family told NBC News that he broke his neck and skull and was placed on life support until his wife could travel from Mexico to be with him. He died on Saturday.
DHS stated, as per NBC, that Garcia was not being pursued at the time of the fall. 'Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell,' Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. 'CBP immediately called a medivac.'
The raid triggered widespread protests, with demonstrators clashing with federal agents. DHS Secretary Noem claimed on social media that agents were assaulted with bricks, rocks, and even gunfire. In response, federal officers deployed tear gas and less-lethal weapons.
Democratic US Representative Salud Carbajal, who was present during the raid, accused federal agents of using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators and workers. 'I witnessed agents, in full military gear, fire smoke canisters and other projectiles into a crowd of peaceful civilians,' he wrote on X.
Carbajal is also under review by the Justice Department for allegedly sharing an ICE officer's business card with protestors, according to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Senator Alex Padilla, also a California Democrat and son of Mexican immigrants, said the administration's strict arrest quotas have led to dangerous outcomes. 'It's causing ICE to get more aggressive, more cruel, more extreme, and these are the results… It's people dying,' Padilla said on CNN.
President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social, defended the immigration raids and protests response. Authorities should use 'whatever means is necessary' to arrest people who do not obey the law, he said.
(With inputs from Reuters, NBC News)
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