Appalling secret of illegal cannabis farmer who Democrats called a 'strawberry farmer' during dystopian ICE raid
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Rodney Scott confirmed one of the illegal farmers was previously sentenced for child sex crimes and worked at the same farm as juveniles.
'This illegal alien was apprehended at the CA marijuana facility,' he said of the unnamed man.
'Turns out he had been sentenced to 7 yrs for kidnapping & attempted rape, w/ a prior conviction for attempted child molestation.
'And this felon was working at the same farm as 10 kids - one being 14 yrs old.'
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers carried out multiple raids Thursday across Ventura County, just north of Los Angeles, on cannabis farms leading to a violent response from locals and farmworkers at Glass House Farms.
The raids sparked backlash from Democrats, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Democrat Congressman Jimmy Gomez, who suggested workers were 'picking strawberries' in the fields.
'Kids running from tear gas, crying on the phone because their mother was just taken from the fields,' Newsom posted on X alongside a clip of the smoky aftermath of the fracas.
The raids sparked backlash from Democrats, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Democrat Congressman Jimmy Gomez, who suggested children were 'picking strawberries' in the fields
'Trump calls me "Nuwscum" - but he's the real scum,' the two-term governor added.
Gomez also took to the platform to share his frustration with Trump 'targeting the immigrant farm workers who feed America.'
'How many MS-13 gang members are waking up at 3 a.m. to pick strawberries? O'yeah, zero!,' he wrote.
'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.'
Homeland Security then used Gomez's 'strawberry fields' claim against him, as the agency posted images of ICE agents taking a walk through the facility that was clearly lined with marijuana plants.
'Chat, what type of strawberries are these?,' the agency wrote as masked agents walked past the greenery.
Marijuana is legal in the Golden State for people 21 years or older.
Tear gas and guns were seen being used in dramatic video footage of the raids as armored federal agents stood on farm roads, flanked by rows of what appear to be cannabis, or marijuana plants, while masked agitators hurled slurs and debris at law enforcement.
One man even opened fire on the federal agents.
Just seconds after ICE agents fired smoke canisters into a crowd of demonstrators near Laguna Road, one individual could be clearly seen raising a firearm and appeared to discharge it in the agents' direction.
Agents blocked off roads and stormed the facility in what witnesses described as a sudden and aggressive operation.
Tear gas choked the air, smoke bombs were thrown and projectiles flew.
Protesters, farmworkers, and family members scattered through the fields, many screaming, some hit, with others pouring milk over their faces to soothe burning eyes.
At least three people were taken to the hospital while dozens more were detained.
A worker, James Alanís died after he climbed a 30-foot greenhouse during the raid before falling from it.
Alanís suffered a broken neck and skull, a family member told ABC 7. He was taken to the hospital and was on life support on Friday. He died on Saturday.
Alanís was working at the cannabis farm in Ventura County to send money home to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that 319 illegal migrants were arrested during the raid.
Noem, also known as 'ICE Barbie', said 14 children were also rescued 'from potential forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking.'
The children, who Scott posted an image of, are from Mexico and Honduras, Fox News reported.
Authorities are currently looking into the criminal histories of detained illegal aliens and Glass House Farms is under investigation for possible child labor law violations, per the outlet.
An angry Trump called out the protestors on his Truth Social platform, and went on to authorize ICE officers to take all necessary precautions to protect themselves in the future.
'I am on my way back from Texas, and watched in disbelief as THUGS were violently throwing rocks and bricks at ICE Officers while they were moving down a roadway in their car and/or official vehicle,' he said after visiting the ravaged Lone Star State with First Lady Melania following the disastrous floods.
'Tremendous damage was done to these brand new vehicles. I know for a fact that these Officers are having a hard time with allowing this to happen in that it shows such total disrespect for LAW AND ORDER.
He continued: 'I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public. I never want to see a car carrying a Law Enforcement Officer attacked again!
'AUTHORIZATION IMMEDIATELY GRANTED FOR ARREST AND INCARCERATION. Thank you for your attention to this matter!'
The raid is believed to be the second-largest single-state ICE operation in history, following the 2019 Mississippi chicken plant raids that nabbed nearly 700 illegal migrants during Trump's first term.
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The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
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ICE deported a 7-year-old girl in New Orleans to Honduras with her mother and her 4-year-old brother who has cancer in late April, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The children are both United States citizens and lived their entires lives in the country, said Sirine Shebaya from the National Immigration Project, which is representing the family. The family was attending a routine immigration appointment when they were arrested and the mother did not have a criminal history, she said. The United States Department of Homeland Security said the kids' mother "entered the country illegally and was released into the interior in 2013." "She was given a final order of deportation in 2015," reads an April 29 post from the agency on X. "In February of 2025, she was arrested by Kenner Police Department in Louisiana for speeding, driving without insurance, and driving without a license," the agency wrote. "When she was taken into ICE custody in April 2025, she chose to bring both children, who are American citizens, with her to Honduras and presented a valid United States passport for each child." Shebaya said she was not given the option to leave her kids behind or make arrangements for them to stay and they were deported within 24 hours. "ICE is supposed to give families time to figure out what options there are for care for their children, but in any cases families are taken into routine check ins, taken into hotel rooms for an extremely brief time and they're told deported tomorrow," Shebaya said. ICE also deported another New Orleans family, including the mother of an 11-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, who is an American citizen, after they attended a routine immigration appointment in April. They were given 72 hours before they were deported, Shebaya said. The mother and the daughter entered the United States together during the first Trump administration and were undocumented immigrants. The young girl was attending school in the United States for about four years, Shebaya said. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security said on X that the mother "illegally entered the U.S. three times." "Her and her daughter were given final orders of removal in March of 2020," they wrote."When she was taken into ICE custody in April 2025, she chose to bring her daughter, an American citizen, with her to Honduras." Shebaya said the mother was told to bring her children and their passports to her immigration appointment. ICE is "actively instructing people to bring kids in some situations," she said. "If you're a child going to school or family with mixed status within it, there's a shock factor for families and for schoolmates going to school with them and not seeing them showing up," she said. "If anything, it creates terror day in and day out. Kids are being affected by it." DHS officials said in a statement about the New Orleans cases that the agency is "not deporting American children" and "takes its responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to ensure that children are safe and protected." "Parents, who are here illegally, can take control of their departure," they wrote. Immigration attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Project and other advocates have condemned both New Orleans families' deportation and Trump's immigration crackdown, particularly when children are affected. "Deporting U.S. citizen children is illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral," said Erin Ware, a senior associate at the law firm Ware Immigration, in a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union, about the New Orleans case. "The speed, brutality, and clandestine manner in which these children were deported is beyond unconscionable, and every official responsible for it should be held accountable." 'I was hoping to graduate with my friends' Nory Sontay Ramos, a 17-year-old honors student at Miguel Contreras High School in Westlake, Los Angeles was preparing for her senior year before she and her mother were arrested by ICE at an immigration appointment. "ICE took us to a room, and they ended up telling my mom, 'Your case is over, so we have to take you guys with us,'" Sontay Ramos told the news outlet The 19th. The teen and her mother were undocumented. The duo entered the United States as asylum seekers when Sontay Ramos was 6 years old, NBC 4 Los Angeles reported. McLaughlin said Sontay Ramos and her mother "exhausted all of their legal options to remain in the U.S." "On March 12, 2019, an immigration judge ordered their removal," she said. "On August 12, 2022, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed their appeal." Authorities took the teen and her mother to Texas and deported them to Guatemala on July 4. "I feel really sad because I was hoping to graduate with my friends and be there with them doing track and field," she told NBC 4. At Miguel Contreras Learning Complex where she attended school, physical education teacher Manuel Guevara told The 19th that she was "happy-go-lucky." "Nory is going into her senior year, which is another thing that's just killing me," he told the news outlet. "She was going into her senior year with all this momentum." 'Nobody should be in there' A student who was detained and later released on bond is left with emotional scars after his experience in a Massachusetts detention facility. ICE pulled over and arrested Marcelo Gomes da Silva, 18, on his drive to volleyball practice at Milford High School in Massachusetts on May 31. The next day, Gomes da Silva's girlfriend and the other seniors at Milford High School graduated under a cloud of angst. Gomes da Silva, an 11th grader, was absent, as were two of the graduating students and the families of many others who feared arrest and deportation if they showed up. "I heard many stories of people who didn't cheer for their children," for fear of being exposed to immigration authorities, Coleen Greco, mother of a volleyball teammate of Gomes da Silva's, told USA TODAY. Federal officials said they were targeting Gomes da Silva's father, who owns the car he was driving, because he is undocumented and has a history of speeding. Gomes da Silva's attorney Robin Nice said his father has no arrests or convictions for speeding. The family moved to the United States from Brazil when Gomes da Silva was 7 years old and overstayed their visa, according to Nice. At the school's graduation ceremony, Milford High School Principal Joshua Otlin referred to the community's lingering "fear and anxiety" after Gomes da Silva's arrest. "There is wrenching despair and righteous anger, where there should be gratitude and joy," he said. Gomes da Silva was later released from the ICE detention facility after six days in custody. He has applied for asylum in the hopes of avoiding deportation. A new surge of fear for immigrant families with school children Officials at schools with large immigrant populations say many students have been fearful since Trump ramped up immigration enforcement. "There's been very high levels of anxiety in the community about immigration enforcement for many months," said Otlin. Many immigrant families in Los Angeles County, where Sontay Ramos and Garcia Lara lived, avoided graduation ceremonies after Trump sent National Guard Troops to the Southern California city when Angelenos protested ICE arrests there in June. How LA school graduations Became the epicenter of fear for ICE family separations Los Angeles Unified School District has produced "know your rights" cards with directions on how to respond if approached by immigration agents to students who request them, said Christy Hagen, a spokesperson for the district. Officials there are urging parents and guardians to update their students' emergency contact information and designate a trusted adult as an authorized caregiver in the event they are detained, she said. School officials elsewhere said they are also making plans to aid immigrant students ahead of the new school year. Garcia, the high school principal from Detroit, said the school may increase English language instruction for students who speak it as a second language. He wants to give students "more agency in knowing their rights." "We have to be more up front and honest with students about the dangers that we're currently experiencing in our country, especially for those who are not citizens." he said. While Garcia Lara won't return to nearby Torrance Unified in the fall, Myers, the spokesperson for his old school district, said the school community's concern about the young boy and his father's well-being has "reaffirmed our district's belief in the human spirit." Contributing: Ben Adler, USA TODAY; Max Reinhart, The Detroit News Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@ Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Shocking moment federal air marshals 'stormed the cockpit' of Delta flight and arrested co-pilot
Federal authorities could be seen storming the cockpit of a Delta Airlines flight in San Francisco before they placed the co-pilot in handcuffs and led him off the flight. The federal agents entered Flight 2809 from Minneapolis shortly after it landed at the San Francisco International Airport at around 9.35pm on Saturday. They were filmed donning plainclothes and wearing law enforcement badges around their necks. Their faces were cropped out in video shared online. But passengers said the group of 10 officers included agents from Homeland Security Investigations and others who identified as federal air marshals, KTLA reports. 'A group of people with badges, guns and different agency vests/markings were pushing their way through the aisle to the cockpit,' a passenger who was sitting in first class told the San Francisco Chronicle. She went on to explain that the officers 'stormed the cockpit, cuffed the pilot, arrested him, walked him down the aisle and ushered him off the plane through the cabin doors located between first and coach.' Soon after, a second team of agents returned to the plane to collect the unidentified co-pilot's personal belongings. Authorities did not immediately reveal why the co-pilot was apprehended. But Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin cited a senior federal official who claims the co-pilot was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations on allegations involving child sexual abuse materials. The arrest seemed to shock even those who worked on the flight. Video shared online showed federal agents in plainclothes wearing badges around their necks entering Flight 2809 from Minneapolis shortly after it landed at the San Francisco International Airport at around 9.35pm on Saturday. The officers then arrested the co-pilot of the flight 🚨 BREAKING: A Delta pilot was arrested by HSI (Homeland Security) on CSAM charges. — Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) July 27, 2025 The remaining pilot said he had no idea what was happening, View from the Wing reports, and a passenger on the flight recounted asking a member of the flight crew what was happening. 'I looked at him and said "What's going on?" He said, "I have no idea,"' the passenger told Fox 9. 'And he genuinely looked like this was a surprise, that all of a sudden there was people on the plane, because he had us stand up, we were starting to take our stuff out for arrival and everybody was already in the overhead bin.' The passenger who spoke to the Chronicle ultimately called the experience 'shocking and unnerving,' noting that those on board received no information from the crew about what had occurred.
