Farmworkers detained, tear gas deployed at protesters in Ventura County immigration raid

Editor’s note: KTLA reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment multiple times prior to publication. As of publishing, DHS has not responded. KTLA will update this article with any new information as it becomes available.

Dozens of farmworkers were detained and federal agents deployed tear gas at protesters during an immigration raid at a Ventura County agricultural business Thursday.

The immigration raid took place around 11 a.m. at Glass House, located at 645 Laguna Road in Camarillo.

Video from Sky5 showed a large federal law enforcement presence in the nearby fields, with witnesses saying agents were detaining workers.

Tensions during the immigration enforcement operation escalated in the afternoon when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began firing tear gas on a crowd that had started to gather.

Sky5 showed roadways blocked on both north and southbound Laguna Road and protesters gathering on the front lines.

The scene escalated around 12:35 p.m. when tear gas was seen being deployed into the crowd. Paramedics were requested to the scene to treat multiple injuries in a multi-casualty incident, according to KTLA’s Rich Prickett.

By 1:40 p.m., Sky5 had a view of at least 30 people sitting against a wall with their hands cuffed together and brown paper bags in front of their feet. More detainees were seen around the area, possibly waiting to be taken to a detention center. It was not immediately clear whether any of the detainees were protest-related arrests.

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While protesters were clashing with law enforcement at the scene of the raid, paramedics set up a triage system nearby for individuals injured from the tear gas. Prickett reported that the paramedics could not set up closer to the scene due to ongoing operation.

KTLA spoke with Ventura County District 5 Supervisor Vianey Lopez live on air, who described the incident as a “very unfortunate situation.”

“What is happening is that there are hundreds of people on site, potentially undocumented individuals who are being questioned and interrogated,” said Lopez. “At this point, we don’t know how many people have been detained.”

However, Lopez pointed out that she received reports that two vans, each carrying about 15 people, were seen leaving the location. “It is an ongoing situation that is very concerning for the safety of those showing up with anger and disappointment at what is happening to hard-working people in our community.”

By 4 p.m., the crowd of protesters swelled in size as they came face to face with a line of heavily armed federal agents. Military trucks, potentially from the National Guard, arrived on scene around 4:30 p.m. as other law enforcement agents attempted to clear the roadway.

The dozens of detained workers were still visible as they waited to be transported away from the scene. Around 4:45 p.m., agents began loading detainees into unmarked gray vans to be transported to an unknown second location.

The Camarillo raid came during a simultaneous operation operation at the Glass House’s second location in Carpinteria, located about 50 miles northwest in Santa Barbara County.

During that operation, Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) attempted to enter the area cordoned off by federal agents, but was denied access and turned around, video from local news station KEYT showed.

Carbajal released a statement following the enforcement operation in which he described a “troubling lack of transparency” from the Department of Homeland Security since the Trump Administration began its high-profile immigration busts in California.

“I will be demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security to find out who they detained and where the detainees are being taken,” the statement reads in part. “These militarized ICE raids are not how you keep our communities safe. This kind of chaos only traumatizes families and tears communities apart.”

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