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Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
ICE raid at major pot operation clouds picture for legal cannabis in California
Camarillo — Ever since federal immigration agents raided one of the largest licensed cannabis operators in the state this month, the phones of cannabis industry insiders have been blazing with messages of fear, sadness and confusion. 'It sent shock waves through the community,' said Hirsh Jain, the founder of Ananda Strategy, which advises cannabis businesses. 'Everyone is on text threads.' Glass House Brands, whose cannabis operations have helped make Santa Barbara and Ventura counties the new cannabis capitals of California, has long been among the most prominent companies in the state's wild frontier of legal cannabis. Some call it the 'Walmart of Weed' for its streamlined, low-cost production methods, its gargantuan market share and its phalanx of wealthy investors and powerful lobbyists. But federal immigration agents stormed onto company property in Camarillo and Carpinteria on July 10 in a cloud of tear gas, as if they were busting a criminal enterprise. Agents in masks and riot gear marched for hours through the company's vast greenhouses as workers fled and hid in panic. One worker, Jaime Alanís Garcia, died after he fell three stories while trying to evade capture. For Glass House, the aftermath has been devastating. Its stock, which is traded on the Canadian stock exchange, dropped from more than $7.75 a share the day before the raid to $5.27 on Thursday. Some workers disappeared into Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention or bolted, too fearful to return. Others were so traumatized that Glass House brought in grief counselors, according to a source close to the company. Across the wider world of legal California cannabis — where many growers and entrepreneurs have hoped the Trump administration would legalize the drug — people were also shaken. Did the action against Glass House signal an end to federal law enforcement's ceasefire against legal cannabis in California and dozens of other states? And what did it mean for Glass House itself, among the largest cannabis companies in the world? How could this slick corporate entity, founded by an ex-cop and special education teacher and a former tech entrepreneur, be in a position in which federal agents claimed to have apprehended more than a dozen undocumented minors on site? 'This could not come at a worse time,' said Jain, the cannabis consultant, adding that the images and rhetoric that have whipped across social media in the wake of the raid 'impedes our ability to legitimize this industry in the eyes of California and the American public.' He added that 'a failure to legitimize a legal cannabis industry enables the proliferation of an illicit industry that is not accountable and engages in far more nefarious practices.' Working conditions in the cannabis industry are notoriously grim, as documented in a 2022 Times investigation that revealed workers who had their wages stolen, were forced to live in squalid and dangerous conditions and sometimes even died on the job. Glass House had no such reports of injuries or deaths before the raid and has long touted its working conditions. A source close to the company said it pays workers more than minimum wage, and internet job postings reflect that. Still, as with almost all farmwork in California, some of those who labored there were undocumented. The company employs some people directly and relies on farm labor contractors to supply the rest of its workforce. A source close to the company said labor contractors certify that the workers satisfy all laws and regulations, including being 21 or older as required to work in cannabis in California. In the days after the raid, federal officials announced they had detained 361 people, including 14 minors, who by California law cannot work in cannabis. It wasn't clear how many of those detained were undocumented or how many were even working at the operation or were just nearby. At least two American citizens were caught up in the dragnet — a security guard headed to work at Glass House and a philosophy professor at Cal State Channel Islands who was protesting the raid. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said this month that Glass House had been targeted because 'we knew, specifically from casework we had built for weeks and weeks and weeks, that there was children there that could be trafficked, being exploited, that there was individuals there involved in criminal activity.' Glass House officials declined to comment for this article, but in an earlier statement on X, the company said that it had never employed minors and that it followed all applicable employment laws. A source close to the company said the search warrant federal officials presented to Glass House the day of the raid alleged it was suspected of harboring and unlawfully employing undocumented immigrants — but did not mention child labor. In the last few years, the company — along with labor contractors — was named in lawsuits by workers alleging they had been sexually harassed, suffered discrimination, and been shorted overtime pay and required meal and rest breaks. One worker at Glass House — who asked not to be identified because he is undocumented and hid from immigration agents during the raid before escaping — said he was employed to work in Glass House's cannabis operation through one of its labor contractors and valued the job because it is year round, not seasonal like many agricultural jobs. But he complained that the contractor had repeatedly paid him late, forcing him to borrow money to make his rent. He also said supervisors put intense pressure on employees to work faster, screaming expletives at workers, refusing to allow breaks, or yelling at them to eat quickly and return to work before their rest periods were done. A source close to the company said the complaints involved people employed by labor contractors, regarding actions by those contractors and not Glass House directly. Many of the suits are pending, with Glass House named as a co-defendant. Company officials declined to comment publicly. A source close to the company said Glass House takes seriously its responsibilities under California labor law and is committed to ensuring that all labor practices within its operations meet the highest standards. The source added that the raid has shaken a company that has always tried to operate by the book and that, despite its exponential growth in recent years, has sought to maintain a close-knit feel. 'It's very sad,' the source said. In the wake of the raids at Glass House, the United Farm Workers union issued a bulletin in English and Spanish warning anyone who is not a U.S. citizen to 'avoid working in the cannabis industry, even at state-licensed operations.' The union noted that 'because cannabis remains criminalized under federal law, any contact with federal agencies could have serious consequences even for people with legal status.' TODEC Legal Center, a Coachella Valley-based group that supports immigrants and farmworkers, issued a similar message. TODEC warned noncitizens to avoid working in the marijuana industry and avoid discussing any marijuana use or possession — even if it is legal in California — with federal agents, because it could hurt their status. About half the farmworkers in California are undocumented, according to UC Merced researchers. Cannabis industry experts said it is too soon to know whether the raid on Glass House will affect the larger cannabis workforce — or whether more licensed cannabis operations will be raided. 'My best guest would be that this is going to be happening to a lot more cultivation farms,' said Meilad Rafiei, chief executive of the cannabis consulting group We Cann. Among the undocumented workers at Glass House on the day of the raids was Alanís, 56, who had been a farmworker in California for three decades. Over the last 10 years, Alanís worked in the Ventura area, first in a flower nursery and then, once Glass House converted the massive greenhouse complex there, in cannabis. On Monday night, his family held an emotional wake for him in Oxnard, where he lived. The Camino del Sol Funeral Home was filled, as many family members held one another tightly and cried. They remembered him as a hardworking, joyful man, who danced at parties and enjoyed every meal he shared with family. State Sen. Monique Limón (D-Goleta), who led the Senate in adjourning in Alanís' memory last week, told the chamber how he had climbed onto the roof of a greenhouse to escape federal officers. From 30 feet up, she said, he called his family to tell them what was happening, and to report 'how scared he was.' 'Jaime's life was dedicated to our lands, our crops, and to providing for his family,' Limón said, adding that he 'had had no criminal record, he was who our country and our state depended on to provide food on all of our tables.' She added that 'his last moments on Earth were filled with terror.'
San Francisco Chronicle
16-07-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
California's marijuana industry was already in crisis. Then the ICE raids started
Recent immigration raids on Southern California cannabis facilities have shaken California's already beleaguered marijuana industry as leaders worry about a renewed federal assault on farms and dispensaries that could scare workers into staying home and further cripple the state's multibillion-dollar industry. Cannabis industry leaders and advocates have been huddling about how to react to a federal immigration raid this month on grow sites in Camarillo and Carpinteria that led to the arrests of 361 allegedly undocumented immigrants. The sites are owned by Glass House Farms one of California's largest growers. The raid became a chaotic, violent mess in which at least one person lost their life and U.S. citizens were detained, including a CSU professor. One worker, Jaime Alanís Garcia, died after he fled federal agents, climbed on top of a greenhouse then fell 30 feet. Federal officials say they arrested 'at least 14 migrant children.' The California Department of Cannabis Control said it conducted a site visit to the Glass House Farms facility in May 'and observed no minors on the premises.' After receiving a subsequent complaint, the department opened an investigation into the facility that is ongoing. Those raids may shock the generation of California cannabis industry workers who have grown up without fearing regular para-military style raids that the Drug Enforcement Agency conducted for years in the state until 2014, when federal lawmakers banned the agency from interfering with state-licensed medicinal cannabis operations. But some advocates worry that ethos may be changing. The Republicans who control Congress are not cannabis-friendly. On Wednesday, a House committee passed legislation that will halt the Department of Justice from spending money to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule 1 drug on par with heroin, a move initiated by the Biden administration. A House committee also recently approved provisions that would increase the federal penalties for distributing cannabis within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, college, playground, vocational school or public housing unit. These tougher penalties could 'open the door for federal interference in state medical cannabis programs again,' according to Americans for Safe Access, a cannabis advocacy organization. Industry leaders in California, which has long been a national leader in cannabis consumption and production, are on a high alert after the recent raids, unsure if the industry is being targeted or if the feds are more focused on finding undocumented immigrants. 'We are being vigilant to see if this is a one-and-done situation, or whether we can expect more, and need to brace ourselves for that action,' said Caren Woodson, president of the board of directors of the California Cannabis Industry Association. Given the recent cannabis-unfriendly moves in Washington, Woodson said, 'it definitely suggests that if you are in the cannabis space, you should be vigilant and on watch for what happens next.' Woodson's organization is working with advocates and cannabis businesses to train employees about what to do if federal agents raid a facility, even if it is state-licensed. Meanwhile, public support for Trump's immigration policies is dropping. A new PBS/Marist poll found that only 43% of respondents approved of Trump's handling of immigration, one of several polls that show support dropping for a key piece of Trump's agenda in the wake of a series of high-profile raids on agriculture and other workers. Woodson worries that, given the $165 billion increase in the Department of Homeland Security's budget, with much of that targeted toward immigration enforcement and security, that the administration might increase its focus on California's cannabis industry, whose workers may not be as sympathetic as those who provide Americans with grocery staples. 'As raids on traditional (agriculture) become more unpopular, something like this could be seen as a culture war wedge, and that is concerning,' Woodson said. And then there is the potential financial impact. For one, the raids could scare members of their workforce to stay home. On Tuesday, the United Farm Workers urged workers 'who are not U.S. citizens to avoid working in the cannabis industry, even at state licensed operations.' For some in California's decades-old cannabis industry, which long predates voter-approved statewide legalization in 2016, Woodson said the raids were a 'triggering' reminder of the hundreds of federal raids conducted in the state for years. A generation of California cannabis industry workers has grown up working with little fear of federal law enforcement agents kicking in the doors, guns drawn. 'People have gotten very comfortable with the idea that cannabis is legal, even though it is still federally illegal,' said Steph Sherer, president of Americans for Safe Access. 'I'm a little worried what that might look like under this administration.' This rising concern of renewed federal interference is yet another headache for California's beleaguered industry. That's because cannabis consumers — and retailers — just felt the state cannabis excise tax jump from 15% to 19% on July 1. (Although state legislators are considering a measure that would reverse the increase.) The tax bump couldn't come at a worse time: An estimated 15% of state retailers are behind on their taxes, and legal California weed is already the most expensive in the country. The high tax rate is a big reason an estimated 60% of the cannabis consumed in the state is illegal. The annual state of the industry report by the California Department of Cannabis Control found '1.4 million pounds of licensed cannabis are produced and consumed in California. California consumption is around 3.8 million pounds, meaning that 2.4 million pounds are supplied from unlicensed cannabis operations and consumed in California.' And now, the raids pose another existential threat.
