A cannabis farmworker who was critically injured during a chaotic immigration raid by federal authorities in Southern California died Saturday, according to his family.
Jaime Alanis Garcia’s death came days after he fell roughly 30 feet during a raid by federal immigration authorities at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California, a city about 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Garcia’s family told NBC Los Angeles that he broke his neck and skull in the fall and was placed on life support shortly afterward — until his wife could travel from Mexico to be by his side before he died.
“His wife and parents decided today to let him rest. He has passed away,” his niece said in a statement Saturday.
His family acknowledged to NBC Los Angeles that Garcia would not have survived the past fews days had he not been connected to an assistive breathing machine.
Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, the labor union that has long represented California field hands from Mexico and other points outside the United States, said in a statement Saturday night that Garcia’s death has left the organization anguished.
“Our hearts are heavy for the grieving family of Jaime Alanis, who died from injuries sustained during a chaotic raid on Thursday,” she said. “We’ll do everything we can to support them.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment.
Immigration officials said in a statement Friday that Garcia was not in federal custody when he fell.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
The raid drew hundreds of demonstrators, some of whom threw rock and bricks at cars belonging to federal agents. Immigration officers “faced assaults, violence, and even bullets fired at them,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi said in a post on X on Saturday.
In response, federal agents deployed less-lethal weapons and tear gas at the protesters, while employees were being arrested inside the cannabis grow house.
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday night that he watched the protests “in disbelief,” adding that immigration authorities should use “whatever means is necessary” to arrest people who do not obey the law.
The cannabis farm where Garcia worked was one of two Glass House properties federal officers raided Thursday.
Noem said in Saturday’s X post that the operation led to the arrest of 319 undocumented migrants. Fourteen children were also “rescued” from “potential forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking,” she said.
Romero, of the United Farm Workers, said those children should be given an opportunity to obtain their own legal counsel “to protect them from further harm.”
She said farm workers are not protected under child labor laws that might otherwise exclude them from such work. “Detaining and deporting children is not a solution,” Romero said.
The raids came more than a month after protests against similar operations in Los Angeles virtually shut down parts of the city and captured the nation’s attention.
In response, Trump took the rare step of deploying the National Guard to quell protesters.
On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, signed a directive requiring city departments to submit preparedness plans detailing how employees, including contractors, should respond if approached by federal immigration authorities.
Romero said United States citizens were among those rounded up during the law enforcement action in Camarillo.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” she said.
She touted a federal court’s temporary restraining order against U.S. immigration enforcement in cases where officers lack reasonable suspicion and target people based on how they look, the type of work they do, where they’re located, or whether they speak Spanish or English with an accent.
The suit was brought by UFW, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the ACLU and other civil rights and migrant organizations, and it was supported by the state of California, the city of Los Angeles and other jurisdictions.
