A Mexican agricultural worker has died after a raid by the US immigration service ICE in California. The man died on Friday from his injuries after falling from a roof, news agency Reuters reported on Saturday.
The man climbed onto the roof when dozens of federal agents raided two locations of a cannabis farm in search of illegal migrants. He fell 9 meters, according to the agricultural workers’ union.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the agents are not responsible for the death of the agricultural worker. He was not being chased when he decided to climb onto the roof. Agents also immediately called the emergency number to ensure the man received help.
According to the ministry, nearly two hundred immigrants who are allegedly residing illegally in the US were arrested during the operation. Ten minor migrants were found on the farm, Rodney Scott of border guard service CBP reports on X.
What is ICE?
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is part of the US Department of Homeland Security. The agency’s main task is to monitor compliance with immigration rules, including through arrests and deportations. This includes arresting undocumented aliens.
Confrontation between police and activists
Dozens of activists tried to stop the arrests. This led to a confrontation with agents, who used batons and smoke and tear gas grenades. An unknown number of American citizens have been arrested.
Some arrested agricultural workers were only allowed to call their loved ones after signing a voluntary deportation order, says lawyer Angelica Preciado of California Rural Legal Assistance. According to the lawyer of the regional organization that provides legal assistance to migrants, some people were also told that they risk a life sentence for their work on a cannabis farm. But cannabis is allowed to be grown in California. The ministry denies the allegations.
Some citizens who were arrested said they were only released after they had removed photos and videos of the raid from their phones, writes the agricultural workers’ union on X.
Reducing immigration is a spearhead of President Donald Trump. He said during the campaign that he would initiate “mass deportations.” The American president speaks of an emergency situation, but there are now fewer foreigners without papers in the US than a few years ago.
Farmers’ organizations warn that the mass deportation of agricultural workers without valid papers will paralyze food production in the US. According to estimates, half of the agricultural workers work illegally in the US.
The Trump administration is vague about how to approach this. Trump has said that migrants in agriculture will not be addressed, but Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says that there will be “no amnesty” for this group.
The way in which immigration service ICE operates has long been a source of criticism. For example, the organization is after all undocumented foreigners, including those without a criminal background. “The way that happens has caused a lot of bad blood,” America expert Andrew Gawthorpe previously told NU.nl.
“Ordinary people see how ICE agents suddenly take their colleagues, employees or neighbors away aggressively. And that while those people have often lived in the US for years, pay taxes and abide by the law.” Last month, great unrest arose in Los Angeles due to ICE’s actions. When residents took to the streets in protest, President Trump sent the National Guard to the city.
A judge in Los Angeles on Friday banned the immigration service from detaining people for questioning without reason. Human rights organizations had filed a case because ICE agents allegedly select people based on their skin color and language.
The judge prohibits ICE from detaining and questioning people in Los Angeles and the surrounding area without good justification that they are illegally in the US. According to the judge, factors such as race, ethnicity, accent, the type of work someone does or where someone is located may not be used as a reason to arrest someone.