10-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Federal immigration agents carry out sweeps at Ventura County farms
Federal immigration agents were carrying out immigration sweeps in Ventura County Thursday, prompting a standoff between authorities and immigrant rights groups.
Videos shared on social media show nearly a dozen agents using less-lethal ammunition at a crowd that had gathered near the intersection of Laguna and Wood roads, just outside of two locations in the 600 block of Laguna Road that were targeted by federal agents, according to an Instagram post by 805 Immigration Coalition.
In the video, people are cursing at the agents as they cough from the gas and are pelted by rounds of less-lethal ammunition.
Angel Marie with 805 Immigration Coalition, a volunteer organization, said in a phone interview that approximately 500 people gathered near the farms to protest.
'We have reports that U.S. citizens are being detained,' Angel Marie said. 'Everyone that was working in the warehouse is now being detained by the federal agents. It's a giant factory and a lot of people who live in the area have family who work here, that's why there is such a large presence out here right now.'
At least one person was being held at gunpoint after they tried to take out their phone and record the raid, according to Angel Marie.
Protesters blocked the roads in and out of one of the farms and at one point federal agents drove their vehicles through the fields. Multiple ambulances have gone in and out of the facility, but it's unclear if anyone was injured, Angel Marie said.
Sarah Armstrong, outreach chair with Americans for Safe Access, said it appears that Homeland Security and the U.S. National Guard were at the location firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters. She was alerted to the raids because one of the properties, Glass House Farms, is connected to the cannabis industry, she said. It wasn't immediately clear to her if the officials showed a search warrant to the operators.
Farm communities in Ventura County have been the subject of repeated immigration raids over the last few weeks. Numerous videos on social media have emerged of agents chasing after farmworkers and making mass arrests at farms.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information
