The union founded by César Chávez condemns the actions of security forces in Ventura, which resulted in 200 arrests.
The historic United Farm Workers of the United States union has reported that an unspecified number of farmworkers were critically injured and several are missing during the large raid carried out Thursday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at Glass House Farms, the hub of California’s legal cannabis industry in Ventura County.
There is at least one critical injury confirmed by the union and hospitals: a worker who fell from the roof of a greenhouse in Camarillo, in an incident under investigation, according to medical and police sources to the Los Angeles Times.
Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Andrew Dowd confirmed to the same outlet that eight people were transported from the Camarillo facility and surrounding areas to local hospitals Thursday afternoon for injuries, but his determination of their severity was unknown. Dowd also indicated that four other people were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The raids resulted in at least 200 arrests after one of the most serious incidents since ICE began operations targeting undocumented immigrants in the country. Civil organizations have denounced these raids as illegal, carried out by unidentified, masked agents who refuse to provide the warrants under which they are supposed to act.
The opposition Democratic Party has even accused ICE of having become a kind of “Gestapo” (the Nazi regime’s secret police) under the command of US President Donald Trump, who has denounced the Ventura raids as groups of “thugs” attacked security forces with rocks while they were carrying out their work.
In a statement released late Friday, the United Farm Workers condemned the fact that “many workers, including US citizens, were detained by federal authorities on farms for eight hours or more” and that “they were only released after being forced to delete photos and videos of the raid.”
The United Farm Workers took the opportunity to condemn the employment of underage migrants on these farms. “Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for teenagers to work in these fields, but detaining and deporting these young people is not the solution,” stated the union founded by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta more than half a century ago.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the food supply chain, threaten lives, and separate families. There is no city, state, or federal district where it is legal to terrorize and detain people for being black and working in agriculture. These raids must stop immediately,” the union concludes.
