Farm worker who died after California Ice raid was ‘hardworking and innocent', family says
Jaime Alanís died a day after a frenzied immigration raid of Glass House Farms in Ventura county where authorities arrested at least 200 workers. The 57-year-old, who was from the town of Huajúmbaro in Michoacán, Mexico, is the first known person to die during the Trump administration's enhanced immigration enforcement operations in southern California.
The federal government's ramped up enforcement activities have brought chaos across southern California as Ice agents descend on parks, car washes and farms. The operations – and the mobilization of US military – have sparked widespread outrage and protests as authorities arrest a growing number of immigrants with no criminal history, despite the administration's claims that its primary concern was 'violent criminals'. US citizens have also been swept up in the raids.
The Department of Homeland Security said it executed criminal search warrants on Thursday in Camarillo and Carpinteria, California, at facilities of Glass House Farms, which grows cannabis, tomatoes and cucumbers. Agents arrested hundreds of people suspected in being in the country without legal statuses and identified at least 10 immigrant children.
During the raid Alanís called his family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell about 30ft (9 metres) from the roof, according to information from family, hospital and government sources. Family members said he suffered catastrophic injuries – including a broken neck, fractured skull and severed artery – during the 'reckless' raid.
Alanís was never in Customs and Border Protection or Ice custody, Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. 'Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30 feet. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.'
Alanís had worked at Glass House for a decade and was 'his family's only provider', according to a GoFundMe fundraiser by his niece, Yesenia Duran.
'My uncle Jaime was just a hard-working, innocent farmer. He has his wife and daughter waiting for him,' Duran wrote.
United Farm Workers pledged to assist the family.
'Our hearts are heavy for the grieving family of Jaime Alanís, who died from injuries sustained during a chaotic raid on Thursday,' the advocacy group said. 'We'll do everything we can to support them. We continue to work with hundreds of farm worker families navigating the aftermath of this violent raid.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I know the truth about Conor McGregor and the fiancee he's humiliated. I'm sure Dee Devlin won't want to hear these merciless words - but I've had enough: JANA HOCKING
Dear Dee, On behalf of every woman who has ever twisted herself into a human pretzel trying to 'fix' a man who clearly didn't deserve her, it's time we had a chat.
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
US launches new bid to keep migrants detained by denying hearings, memo shows
WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is launching a new effort to keep immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally detained by denying them bond hearings, an internal memo showed, a change that could further swell the numbers of those held. The guidance by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a portion of which Reuters reviewed, could be applied to millions of people who crossed the border illegally and are contesting their deportation. President Donald Trump has vowed mass deportations, which he says are needed after high levels of illegal immigration under his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. Congress passed a spending law this month that provides funding to detain at least 100,000 people, a steep increase over the record 58,000 in custody by late June. The Washington Post first reported, opens new tab the new ICE policy limiting bond hearing eligibility, citing a July 8 memo by its acting director, Todd Lyons. The guidance shared with Reuters called for ICE to interpret several immigration law provisions as "prohibitions on release" after an arrest, adding the shift in policy was "likely to be litigated." It encouraged ICE prosecutors "to make alternative arguments in support of continued detention" during immigration court hearings. The new policy appeared to reverse legal standards governing detention for decades, said Tom Jawetz, a former homeland security official in the Biden administration, calling it "a radical departure that could explode the detention population." The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
One Republican sides with Democrats to release Epstein files
A lone Republican has risked President Donald Trump's ire after voting with Democrats in a bid to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna pushed an amendment to upcoming crypto legislation that would have forced Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all Epstein-related documents. Bondi would have to share the files on a 'publicly accessible website' within 30 days of passage. However, the effort was foiled, failing five to seven, during a Monday night vote by the House Rules Committee, a group of lawmakers that generally sign off on legislation before it gets a final vote on the House floor. The sensational files, which Trump promised to release while campaigning, will remain under lock and key at the Justice Department - for now. The president, if he's caught wind of the nail-bitting legislative maneuver, may be unhappy with how close this effort was to succeeding as he and his Cabinet members have worked to delegitimize calls for transparency in the high-profile case. South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman, a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) and a member who, at times, ruffles GOP leadership's feathers, stunningly sided with Democrats to release the file. And another Republican decided not to vote at all, apparently wanting to avoid flak from constituents eager to see who was implicated in the deceased sexual offender's affairs. Texas Republican Chip Roy opted not to vote on the measure. Even if he had sided with his fellow HFC member Norman and Democrats the amendment still would've failed by one vote. 'Rules voted 5-7 to block the full House from voting on my amendment to have a FULL release of the Epstein file,' Khanna wrote on X following the failed vote. 'People are fed up. They are fed up. Thanks @RepRalphNorman. Need to put the American people before party!' The Republicans who voted against the amendment to release the Epstein files include: Rules Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., Michelle Fischbach, R-M.N., Chip Roy, R-Texas, Erin Houchin, R-Ind., Nicholas A. Langworthy, R-N.Y., Austin Scott, R-Ga., H. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., Brian Jack, R-Ga. Some MAGA devotees feel betrayed by Republican's sudden and puzzling reversal on the release of the deceased banker and his 'client list.' Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier this year that the 'client list' was on her desk, but last week the DOJ and FBI said there is no list at all - an admission clearly at odds with the Cabinet member's past comments. 'America deserves the truth about Jeffrey Epstein and the rich powerful elites in his circle,' firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted on X after the vote. 'The line is drawn with anyone who abuses children and vulnerable innocent people.' 'When George Santos is going to prison for 7 years but Epstein only served 13 months, our justice system is CORRUPT!!!' Greene said, noting how a the former Republican congressman will soon go to jail for fraud and identity theft. Trump during his campaign he would release additional files on the disgraced financier if he was elected. But last week he appeared to downplay the importance of the scintillating Epstein saga. 'Are people still talking about this creep? That is unbelievable! I can't believe you're asking a question on Epstein,' the 79-year-old president responded to a reporter inquiring about the case last week. Trump also ridiculed Epstein in a post on his Truth Social app over the weekend. 'We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,' he posted. Earlier this year, the White House hosted influencers over to review files on Epstein, but the documents they triumphantly paraded out with were later found to be previously released files - they were duped.
