Glass House Brands Announces Labor Policy Changes Following California ICE Raid

Glass House Brands, the California cannabis farm that was targeted by a federal ICE immigration raid last month, has announced labor policy changes in a press release offering “updates to recent events.”

The July 10 raids led to the death of one farm worker and hundreds of arrests, and anti-ICE protesters gathered outside the police barricade and attempted to disrupt the operation. Officers said they arrested over 360 people for immigration violations and found nearly a dozen minors on the site, which also prompted an investigation into potential child labor violations at the farms.

Glass House said it was served a federal search warrant before the raid, and that nine company employees had been detained or arrested — the rest were third-party workers handled by outside labor contracting firms. The company said it was “unable to verify the actual number or the identities of those detained.”

The company stated that it “terminated its relationship” with the labor contracting firms that were providing the farm workers, noting that the firms had guaranteed the workers would be at least 21 years old — as required by the state’s cannabis regulations — and possess valid work authorization.

The company also said it has hired the compliance consulting firm Guidepost Services, which is led by a former ICE director, and improved its farms’ age-gating controls for workers, vendors, visitors, and customers.

Glass House has also entered into a new labor peace agreement with the Teamsters union.