By Lyn Neeley
July 22, 2025
At 10:20 a.m. on July 10, some 500 community supporters responded to a Rapid Response Hotline alert by UndocuFund announcing that armored vehicles were heading toward migrant farmworkers at two southern California Glass House farms in Camarillo and Carpinteria, California.
Protestors face off with National Guard troops during a federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms, Camarillo, California, July 12, 2025.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and members of the National Guard descended on the farms. They used weapons and threats of deportation to terrorize the farmworkers — who work seven days a week raising tomatoes, cucumbers and legal cannabis — and their families.
Supporters were met with tear gas as they threw rocks and faced off against the troops. In what may be the largest anti-migrant operation since Trump took office in January, 361 people were detained during the raid and a migrant farmworker, Jaime Alanís, was killed while trying to escape.
The escalation in harassment and kidnappings of migrants follows an order by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who has given the Department of Homeland Security a quota of 3,000 arrests of migrants per day.
The raids were the last straw for the southern California farmworkers, who responded immediately by organizing a three-day “Strike for Dignity” from July 16 to 18. (#Huelgaparaladignidad)
Farmworkers’ demands, made at a press conference rally, were citizenship for migrant workers and an end to the illegal and inhumane ICE raids, roundups and deportations. They called on workers countrywide not to buy fruits and vegetables grown in California during the strike and to boycott companies that exploit and silence migrant farmworkers.
Farmworker representative Flor Martinez Zaragoza spoke to the crowd at the press conference, saying: “We are not criminals. We are the backbone of our food system, and we are tired of being treated like we are disposable.” (tinyurl.com/45t6puae)
One farmworker told the crowd that he has paid his taxes for 19 years with the promise of a pathway to citizenship. He said farmworkers work every day, working all holidays including Christmas, and they worked straight through the Covid pandemic.
He said: “You citizens, I know you will not trade your workplace to pick up a blueberry bucket for $6. Garlic pays you $30 to fill a bin. The cherry, $6 a bucket. I don’t think that with this heat you will be encouraged to do it. I got to see people die in the field. And nobody talks about that.” (tinyurl.com/33jf4dhj)
The Service Employees Union has called for a “Summer of Resistance” and is backing the next immigrant strike called for August 12. “We need to send a strong message that this country runs on immigrants,” said SEIU Local 721 Organizing Director Martin Manteca at an event announcing support for the strike. (seiu721.org)
