Tensions are rising in Southern California over immigration raids. Here's what we know
After weeks of chaotic immigration raids in public and at workplaces across Southern California, a judge has granted a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit, requiring federal authorities to find"reasonable suspicion"to make immigration arrests in California's central district, including Los Angeles, and preventing them from using characteristics like race or speaking Spanish as the sole basis for arrests. The federal judge found the Department of Homeland Security has been making arrests inLos Angeles immigration raidswithout reasonable suspicion. The ruling comes after federal immigration agents arrested more than 300 migrants in a pair of chaotic raids at legal marijuana farms on Thursday, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Conflicting accounts from workers and federal officials have raised a flurry of questions as DHS officials say their agents were shot at. The developments again thrust a spotlight on a region that emerged weeks ago as an epicenter of large-scaleimmigration operationsby the Trump administration – and of tense protests against the actions that often yielded arrests of their own. Demonstrations were planned again Friday in Los Angeles, as labor and faith leaders and immigrant rights advocates push back against deportation operations heralded by the Republican White House. The mayor also signed an order aimed at protecting immigrant communities. Here's what we know about the key events of this week: Intense standoffs unfolded Thursday as protesters clashed with federal immigration agents carrying out raids atlegalmarijuana farms in California's Ventura and Santa Barbara counties – operations similar to those atconstruction sites, hotelsandHome Depot parking lotsthat have stirred widespread fear among immigrant communities. The Department of Homeland Security said it executed criminal warrants in the cities of Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday. The DHS initially estimated 200 migrants were detained during the two raids, but in anupdate Saturday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said 319 migrants in the country illegally were arrested. "This is quickly becoming one of the largest operations since President Trump took office," the DHS secretary wrote. During the raids, at least 14 migrant children were "rescued … from potential forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking," Noem said. Neither Noem nor the DHS have provided details on the particular facility or the conditions in which the children were found. The operator of the marijuana farms, Glass House Brands, said in a statement Friday it has "never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors." CNN has reached out to Glass House for further comment on the DHS allegations. Federal agents at both facilities were met by an estimated 500 protesters, according to the DHS. During one of the raids, a person fired a gun at officers, the agency said. A suspect has not been apprehended. President Donald Trump encouraged ICE and Homeland Security officials in a social media post Friday to arrest protestors who throw rocks and bricks at officers or commit "any other form of assault" against officers, "using whatever means is necessary to do so." The United Farm Workers union said multiple farmworkers were "critically injured" during the Camarillo raid, and others are "totally unaccounted for." Fire department spokesman Andrew Dowd said eight injured people were taken to local hospitals and an additional four patients were treated at the scene. Jaime Alanis, one of the workers injured during Thursday's raid, died Saturday, his niece confirmed tothe Associated Press. Alanis, 57, was hospitalized with critical injuries after falling from a greenhouse roof during the raid, officials said. CNN has reached out his family for more information. The UFW union prematurely announced Alanis' death on Friday, when a Ventura County spokesperson said the injured man was still hospitalized. In a new statementSaturday, UFW said, "Our hearts are heavy for the grieving family of Jaime Alanis." The union promised support for the family as it "continue(s) to work with hundreds of farm worker families navigating the aftermath of this violent raid." DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said earlier that Alanis had not been taken into CBP or ICE custody and that agents acted quickly to get him medical care after he fell. "Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30 feet. CBP immediately called a medevac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible," McLaughlin said. During the Camarillo raid, vehicles from Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection blocked a road lined with fields and greenhouses as military-style vehicles and a helicopter flew overhead,the Associated Press reported. Camarillo is located just over 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, about halfway between Santa Barbara and the city. Dozens of demonstrators gathered on the road as uniformed agents in camouflage gear, helmets and gas masks stood in a line across from them, then threw canisters that sprayed what looked like smoke into the air to disperse the crowd, according tovideo of the encounterand AP. About 35 miles up the coast, a raid around the same time Thursday at a Carpinteria marijuana farm also grew tense, with smoke bombs erupting as "a crowd of outraged residents and workers confronted federal agents, some clad in military-style gear," CNN affiliateKEYT reported. "It was overkill," said Congressman Salud Carbajal, a Democrat who represents the area and went to the scene to see "over 50 ICE agents … conducting this operation." "They were creating fear, anxiety and intimidation," Carbajal said ina video on X. "They were dressed in military garb, clothing, military grade weapons. They were just creating an untenable, incendiary circumstance where they could have got members of the public and themselves hurt." A young child was hurt by shrapnel from the agents' flash and smoke devices, he said as he held a piece of metal, adding he could not enter the farm facility. The Camarillo incident concerned the mayor of nearby Oxnard: "It is becoming increasingly apparent that the actions taken by ICE are bold and aggressive, demonstrating insensitivity towards the direct impact on our community," Mayor Luis McArthur wroteon Facebook,referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "These actions are causing unnecessary distress and harm. I remain committed to working alongside our Attorney General and the Governor's office to explore potential legal avenues to address these activities." As to the confrontation between federal agents and anti-ICE protesters, White House border czar Tom Homan said: "You have the right to protest. I support that. But when you cross the line on impeding us, you're going to be arrested." The farm raids happened just days after dozens of federal immigration agents, along with members of the California National Guard,deployedto a mostly empty park in a Los Angeles neighborhoodknown for itslarge immigrant population, also sparking a protest – and the mayor's scorn. Word had spread of a possible raid before more than 90 troops and officers descended Monday on MacArthur Park, where Mayor Karen Bass watched officers on horseback and soldiers in tactical gear walk past a playground as children at a summer day camp were rushed indoors so they would not be traumatized, shetold AP. Activists arrived to drive out the agents, yelling and banging on ICE vehicles. Troops and officers left after about an hour, AP reported. It's not clear if anyone was taken into custody during the operation. ICE does not comment on ongoing operations, its spokesperson told CNN. "Frankly, it is outrageous and un-American that we have federal armed vehicles in our parks when nothing is going on in the parks," Bass, a Democrat, said later. "There was no protest. There was no disorder that required that." Bass signed an executive directive Friday morning to support Los Angeles' immigrant communities. It came in the wake of "unlawful raids conducted by the federal government," her office announced, mentioning the one at MacArthur Park. Trumpmaintains controlof about 4,000 California National Guard troops and hundreds of active-duty Marines heordered to be deployedin early June – against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom – torespond to protestsin a 1-square-mile section of downtown Los Angeles against broad immigration raids. US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong's Friday ruling came as part of a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Department of Homeland Security'simmigration raidsand conditions in federal detention centers. The defendants, including the DHS, the FBI and the Department of Justice, are "enjoined from conducting detentive stops in this District unless the agent or officer has reasonable suspicion that the person to be stopped is within the United States in violation of U.S. immigration law," according to the judge's ruling. Federal immigration authorities cannot make immigration arrests in California's central district solely based on "apparent race or ethnicity," "speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent," "presence at a particular location" or "the type of work one does." The ruling requires immigration authorities to provide detainees at a Los Angeles immigration facility with access to legal visitation and phone calls with lawyers. The suit, filed last week by the ACLU of Southern California on behalf of five people and immigration advocacy groups, alleges the agency overseeing ICE "has unconstitutionally arrested and detained people in order to meet arbitrary arrest quotas set by the Trump administration," the ACLU said in astatement. On Thursday, the plaintiffs argued the Trump administration is detaining people in Southern California based on race and conducting mass immigration sweeps without first establishing reasonable suspicion a person is unlawfully in the United States. The government asserted federal agents initiated stops based on intelligence or "trend analysis," not race or ethnicity. Frimpong, anomineeof President Joe Biden, appeared skeptical, repeatedly pressing the government for evidence the arrests were based on actionable intelligence rather than targeting areas where undocumented immigrants are presumed to gather. "It's hard for the court to believe you couldn't find one case with a report of why someone was targeted," she said. In her order, Frimpong said the administration "failed" to provide information about the basis on which they made the arrests. Frimpong ordered the DHS to maintain and provide documentation of arrests to plaintiffs' counsel. The ACLU of Southern California celebrated the ruling on Friday. "No matter the color of their skin, what language they speak, or where they work, everyone is guaranteed constitutional rights to protect them from unlawful stops," said Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney for ACLU of Southern California. Gov. Newsom echoed that, praising the new ruling for putting "a temporary stop to federal immigration officials violating people's rights and racial profiling." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the ruling was an "important step toward restoring safety, security and defending the rights of all Angelenos." Bass, who has fiercely opposed recent federal immigration operations, took steps Friday to strengthen the city's response to the raids. In her Friday directive, Bass instructed city departments to prepare plans for how city employees should respond if federal agents try to detain migrants on city property, which could include many schools. "We're not trying to train people or to train city departments on how to resist and break the law," Bass said. She noted city workers would only provide entry to agents with appropriate arrest warrants. "This is for city departments, city employees to understand what their rights are, meaning that you can't just allow people to come in and run roughshod." A task force will also be formed between Los Angeles Police Department and community members to discuss how to support impacted residents, Bass announced. "The family members that are left behind don't know whether their family members are in the city, in the state, or even in the country," Bass said. "We also know that when these raids have been happening, it's not just (impacting) people who are undocumented." The city has submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act for records regarding the dates and locations of federal immigration operations, which have so far largely been unannounced. CNN's Jillian Sykes, Taylor Galgano, Matthew Friedman, Samantha Waldenberg, Zoe Sottile and Hanna Park contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com
Tensions are rising in Southern California over immigration raids. Here's what we know After weeks of chaotic immigration raids in publi...
