Glass House Farms, a cannabis growing facility in Carpinteria, was the site of an apparent raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Thursday.
Witnesses told KSBY News that ICE agents took more than a dozen people into custody. They also said ICE had been seen in the area for the past few weeks, but this was the first time there had been a raid.
“They came a couple weeks back or a little bit ago, and they did not have a warrant, so they were sent away,” said Kayla Noriega, another local cannabis grower.
But on Thursday, at around 10 a.m., ICE returned to Glass House Farms off Casitas Pass Road and Foothill Road.
“Today, they came back,” Noriega said. “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.”
After the raid, about 30 people gathered outside the grow house looking for family members and demanding answers from the owner.
The owner of Glass House declined to comment.
Carpinteria residents Rick and Sheri Diaz said seeing ICE in their community was heartbreaking.
“It's really sad because these are our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers, and it's just so sad to see this happen to our community,” Sheri said.
Representative Salud Carbajal was at the scene during the raid, but said in a statement that he was denied entry and that, “There’s been a troubling lack of transparency from ICE since the Trump Administration started.”
I went to Casitas Pass Road in Carpinteria today after learning ICE was conducting a militarized raid targeting farm workers. As a Member of Congress, I have the right to conduct oversight, but I was denied entry. Here’s what happened. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bnrpv6Axot
— Rep. Salud Carbajal (@RepCarbajal) July 10, 2025
“To sit here and just haul people away, it's just not right and it's not something that I'm proud of,” Rick Diaz said.
In response to Thursday’s raid, the Carpinteria City Council planned to hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall to consider a potential city response and support strategies related to federal immigration activity.
Another Glass House Farms facility in Camarillo was also raided by ICE on Thursday.
WATCH: Protesters and federal agents clash during raid at Southern California farm
Protesters turned out at both raids and in Camarillo, authorities wearing camouflage, helmets and gas masks deployed smoke canisters and other non-lethal methods to disperse the crowd. The Associated Press reported that three people were taken to Ventura County hospitals.
