In the aftermath of two immigration enforcement raids at California facilities, cannabis company Glass House Farms released a statement saying it “fully complied” with federal warrants, and immigration officials said they detained minors as well as adults. 

Hundreds of people gathered to protest the operations at workplaces in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday.

Carpinteria residents and elected officials denounced the raid at greenhouses on Casitas Pass Road, with Congressman Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, calling the operation “overkill and ridiculous.”

Ten workers were reportedly detained in the operation, which was conducted by authorities from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the National Guard. 

“Yesterday, Glass House Brands received immigration and naturalization warrants. As per the law, we verified that the warrants were valid and we complied,” the company wrote in a statement posted on social media pages Friday morning. “Workers were detained, and we are assisting to provide them legal representation.”

In Carpinteria, agents used flash bang grenades to move the crowd back, and deployed smoke grenades as authorities left the area around 1:10 p.m. 

In Camarillo, which had a larger crowd, the confrontations grew violent, the Ventura County Star and Los Angeles Times reported.

Authorities used less-lethal projectiles and tear gas on civilians, and one person in the crowd reportedly shot a weapon at the federal agents, the Los Angeles Times reported.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said 10 minors without documentation were found at the Camarillo Glass House Farms facility during the operation. 

“The facility is now under investigation for child labor violations,” Scott said in a statement on X on Thursday night. 

Scott posted a photograph, with faces blurred, of “the juveniles found in the marijuana facility — almost all unaccompanied, one as young as 14.” 

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, posted a statement on X on Friday apparently referring to the Camarillo operation: “ICE and CDP officers who so bravely rescued nine children from potential exploitation, forced labor and human trafficking were met by 500+ rioters, one of whom shot at law enforcement.”

Glass House Brands said in a statement Friday that the company “has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”

“We do not expect this to affect operations moving forward,” according to the statement. “We will provide additional details when applicable.” 

Glass House Brands President Graham Farrar, a founding member of CARP Growers, wrote in a statement on X: “Know there are lots of questions, we have a lot of them, too. As we get more information, we will update.

“Our team has been continually on site, and we are focused on taking care of our people and our plants.” 

Glass House Brands owns and operates local cannabis businesses, including The Farmacy dispensaries in Santa Barbara, Isla Vista and Santa Ynez, and growing greenhouses in the Carpinteria Valley.

The company has cannabis businesses all over California.

Glass House Brands CEO Kyle Kazan did not post a statement but reposted company messages, including the 1:01 p.m. Thursday statement that “Glass House Farms were visited today by ICE officials. The company fully complied with agent search warrants and will provide further updates if necessary.” 

ICE officials did not respond to Noozhawk’s questions or request for comment regarding the Carpinteria operation as of Friday morning. 

Another local cannabis grower, Kayla Noriega, told KSBY that she had seen ICE agents in the area during the past few weeks, but Thursday was the first time there was a large-scale enforcement operation. 

“They came a couple weeks back or a little bit ago, and they did not have a warrant, so they were sent away,” Noriega said, according to KSBY. “Today, they came back. They had a warrant. They used the excuse that, you know, or maybe not excuse, but their point of entry was that cannabis is a federally illegal substance, so that was our excuse to enter.

“However, none of the material was touched. Only the people were taken.”

The Carpinteria City Council held a special meeting Thursday night to discuss recent immigration enforcement operations in the community, and the timing of the massive raid brought out a huge crowd to City Hall.

The Coastal View News reported that three men were detained earlier this week, including two in the Smart & Final parking lot and another in a residential neighborhood near El Carro Park. 

There is a GoFundMe account to help the families, who “are in a scary limbo of not knowing” whether the men will come home, organizer Tricia Humbles wrote.