CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 10: National Guard soldiers block protestors during an ICE immigration raid at a nearby cannabis farm on July 10, 2025 near Camarillo, California. Protestors stood off with federal agents for hours outside the farm in the farmworker community in Ventura County. A Los Angeles federal judge is set to rule Friday on a temporary restraining order which would restrict area immigration enforcement operations. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Camarillo, California – A tense confrontation broke out Thursday between demonstrators and federal agents during a raid on a licensed cannabis farm in Ventura County, raising alarm over what many residents see as an aggressive expansion of immigration enforcement into peaceful communities.
The raid occurred at Glass House Farms, a legal cannabis grower in the largely agricultural region of Camarillo. State records confirm the company holds multiple valid licenses to cultivate marijuana in California and also grows produce like tomatoes and cucumbers. According to the company, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a search warrant, and the business “fully complied” with the operation.
What followed was a scene that felt more like a military operation than a workplace inspection. Protesters, many of them family members of workers, gathered along a road flanked by greenhouses and crop fields, where dozens of federal agents in camouflage gear, helmets, and gas masks had formed a perimeter. Military-style vehicles blocked access points. A helicopter circled overhead. At one point, officials deployed smoke canisters—possibly tear gas—to disperse the crowd, images from local television stations showed.
Protesters shouted at agents, some of whom appeared to be carrying rifles. In one KTLA image, people were seen sitting on the ground with their hands bound, though it remains unclear whether they were farmworkers or demonstrators. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the operation but offered few details beyond the execution of a warrant.
Caught in the middle were people like 22-year-old Judith Ramos, a certified nurse assistant whose father was working the tomato fields that morning. She said she received a call from him during the raid.
“He said immigration was outside his job, and if anything happened to take care of everything,” Ramos said, her voice breaking. She hasn’t heard from him since. His truck, she added, was still parked at the site.
Ramos joined the protest, where she said federal agents fired the chemical spray when demonstrators tried to approach.
“I got some in my eyes. I had to put milk on my face,” she said. “They didn’t want us to get any closer, and they started firing.”
Local emergency services were dispatched to the area around 12:15 p.m., according to Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd. Three people were transported to hospitals, though officials declined to provide details about their conditions or the nature of their injuries.
This latest incident follows a series of highly visible immigration enforcement actions across Southern California, including raids at car washes and big-box store parking lots. Community advocates say the operations are generating widespread fear in neighborhoods where people have long lived and worked, regardless of immigration status.
As the federal government ramps up its efforts, critics point to the stark contrast between the peaceful lives of the individuals being targeted and the militarized tactics used to arrest them. For many, including Ramos, the question remains unanswered: Where are their loved ones now?
