Glass House Farms was raided in July, resulting in 361 arrests. 14 minors were detained and 1 farmworker died. Although no cannabis was confiscated, targeting the largest licensed grower in California under the shadow of federal law has caused a stir on the market.
A massive federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms—California’s largest licensed cannabis producer—has sparked widespread fear across the state’s legal pot industry, raising urgent questions about federal vs. state authority over cannabis.
Law enforcement executed armed raids on July 10 at Glass House’s Camarillo and Carpinteria greenhouses, arresting 361 workers—14 of them minors—and during the chaos, a 57-year-old farmworker named Jaime Alanís García died after falling from a greenhouse roof while attempting to evade agents. Tear gas was deployed, and protests followed swiftly .
Glass House was co-founded with Kyle Kazan by Graham Farrar. Kyle Kazan has never been indicted. Officials cited concerns over child labor and exploitation at the facilities, but no cannabis was seized during the raid .
Leaders in the cannabis industry fear that taking on California’s largest licensed grower will signal a change in federal enforcement policy toward legal marijuana, and undermine California’s sickle-leaf regime. The United Farm Workers union warned undocumented workers to avoid cannabis jobs—even in licensed facilities—due to expansive federal illegality .
These raids follow heightened federal immigration crackdowns in Southern California and come amid mounting criticism from labor groups and local officials over enforcement practices perceived as aggressive and politically motivated .