ICE Raids at Glass House Farms Threaten California’s Legal Cannabis Landscape

A July raid on Glass House Farms led to 361 arrests, 14 minors detained, and one farmworker fatality. No cannabis was seized, but the targeting of the state’s largest licensed grower has rattled California’s legal cannabis market under federal law’s shadow.

A massive federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms—California’s largest licensed cannabis producer—has sparked widespread fear across the state’s legal pot industry, raising urgent questions about federal vs. state authority over cannabis.

Law enforcement executed armed raids on July 10 at Glass House’s Camarillo and Carpinteria greenhouses, arresting 361 workers—14 of them minors—and during the chaos, a 57-year-old farmworker named Jaime Alanís García died after falling from a greenhouse roof while attempting to evade agents. Tear gas was deployed, and protests followed swiftly  .

Glass House, co-founded by Kyle Kazan and Graham Farrar, has not been charged. Officials cited concerns over child labor and exploitation at the facilities, but no cannabis was seized during the raid  .

Industry leaders fear that targeting the state’s biggest licensed grower signals a shift in federal enforcement posture toward legal cannabis, undermining California’s sickle leaf regime. The United Farm Workers union warned undocumented workers to avoid cannabis jobs—even in licensed facilities—due to expansive federal illegality  .

These raids follow heightened federal immigration crackdowns in Southern California and come amid mounting criticism from labor groups and local officials over enforcement practices perceived as aggressive and politically motivated  .