They were the largest immigration raids yet in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, with hundreds of people taken into custody.
Federal raids hit farms in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday, triggering large and sometimes tense demonstrations in both communities. The Department of Homeland Security released a statement saying approximately 200 undocumented workers had been arrested at both locations, as well as four U.S. citizens who were among the protesters.
The raids started at around 10 a.m. on Thursday. Victor Solis is a volunteer with 805Undocufund, a nonprofit group that helps undocumented residents in the region and works to support people targeted by ICE.
"When I first started to drive northbound on the 101, I saw these military vehicles," said Solis. "You can see them here (in Carpinteria). They were driving northbound, getting off the highway here in Carpinteria. That's when our Rapid Response Network (the immigration raid monitoring network) started to see alerts that National Guard and ICE/The Department of Homeland Security were coming to raid Glass House Farms here in Carpinteria, and in Camarillo."
The federal agencies apparently anticipated protests and brought a large number of agents and troops.
In Carpinteria, they sealed off the section of Casitas Pass Road where the farm is located. A line of officers wearing military fatigues and carrying rifles kept demonstrators from advancing.
Steve Mead, who lives nearby, said it got tense, as there were about 150 demonstrators. "It did get a little heated, because a lot of the people here, the blood is up, and they're very angry that there is ICE in the neighborhood. They (the officers) went as far as to throw flash grenades at the crowd, which I don't think was called for at the time, because there was no (physical) contact whatsoever."
George Jimenez says his parents work at one of the farms in the area. After he found out they were safe, he decided to join in the protest and speak out against the raids.
"I don't see why they are doing all this," said Jiminez. "At the end of the day, they are working. It's not like they (the farmworkers) are criminals.
Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara stood at the front of the crowd between the demonstrators and the officers.
"This is overkill. There are military personnel on our streets. There are Homeland Security people dressed as military personnel on our domestic soil," said Carbajal. "It's political theater by the Trump Administration."
The Congressman was upset he wasn’t allowed past the law enforcement lines to monitor the raid. But he says what was much more frustrating was who was being targeted in the latest local raids.
"They're not going after criminals. They say they are, but this is a clear example they are not," said Carbajal. "They're going after hard-working people that are working in our fields, that are working in agriculture, the people who put food on our tables."
As officers left the roadblock area, they deployed smoke grenades as some of the protesters ran after their armoured vehicle.
In Camarillo, hundreds of protestors showed up as ICE raided the massive Glass House Farms legal cannabis facility on Laguna Road.
"None of these people are criminals," said Natalie Eubank, who is with the company. They came here this morning with their lunch pails to just do their job. That's all we want to do is our job. They hurt nobody, they pay their taxes, they bring millions of dollars in tax money into the county with what they do."
Federal agents spent hours detaining workers at the massive facility. Some of the federal vehicles were attacked with rocks by demonstrators as they tried to leave at around 5 p.m. There was a skirmish in which the federal team used tear gas to try to disperse the crowd. There were reports that someone in the crowd fired a gun at the agents. No one was reported injured, and the incident is still under investigation.
They waited until the middle of the night before leaving, apparently to avoid further conflict with the protesters.
A statement released by the Department of Homeland Security on Friday said approximately 200 undocumented workers were arrested. It said four protesters were also arrested.
The agency also said it "rescued" ten migrant children from what Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said "looks like" potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking. Officials say they are investigating whether there were child labor violations.
Editor's note: The audio version of this story aired Friday morning before DHS released a statement with statistics and other details on the raids.
