ICE and National Guard Raid Glass House Farms, Rescue 14 Children from Forced Labor

(LibertySociety.com) – Federal ICE agents descended on a Southern California cannabis farm owned by a major Gavin Newsom donor, unearthing a child predator operation and child labor ring right under the noses of California’s so-called “sanctuary” defenders, leaving everyone asking: how deep does the rot go?

At a Glance

• Federal ICE and National Guard agents raided Glass House Farms, arresting 319, including alleged child predators, and rescuing 14 children from forced labor.
• The owner of the farm is a major donor to Governor Gavin Newsom, raising questions about political protection and regulatory enforcement in California’s cannabis industry.
• The operation was the largest and most militarized immigration raid during Trump’s second term, triggering violent protests and deepening state-federal tensions.
• Labor exploitation, child trafficking, and sanctuary state policies collided in a spectacle exposing the dark side of California’s “progressive” governance.

ICE Raid Exposes Exploitation at Newsom Donor’s Cannabis Empire

Glass House Farms, a major Southern California cannabis producer, became ground zero for what law enforcement is calling the largest bust of its kind in recent memory. ICE agents, backed by the National Guard and military hardware, stormed the company’s sites in Camarillo and Carpinteria on July 10, 2025, after months of investigations into labor violations, human trafficking, and illegal employment practices. The scale and intensity of the operation shocked even seasoned observers: helicopters, military vehicles, and heavily armed agents descended on the farm, sending workers scrambling and igniting chaos throughout the region.

Federal authorities confirmed the arrest of 319 individuals, the rescue of 14 children from suspected forced labor and trafficking, and the exposure of a child predator operation operating in plain sight. The sheer audacity of the exploitation, especially at a farm whose leadership has filled the coffers of California’s top politicians, illustrates the catastrophic failure of state oversight and the perverse incentives created by sanctuary policies that handcuff local law enforcement and encourage lawlessness.

Sanctuary Policies, Political Connections, and a Culture of Impunity

Glass House Farms’ ties to Governor Gavin Newsom, its leadership among his top campaign donors, makes the timing and circumstances of this raid particularly egregious. Sanctuary laws, touted as compassionate, have functioned as a shield for those breaking the law on a massive scale. Local officials, including Newsom and Congressman Salud Carbajal, wasted no time denouncing the federal action, railing against what they called “militarized” enforcement while conveniently ignoring the children victimized by their political allies’ operations. The state’s reflexive resistance to any federal immigration enforcement has not only failed to protect vulnerable workers but has allowed labor abuses and trafficking to flourish in the shadows of California’s “legal” cannabis boom.

Protests erupted almost immediately, fueled by advocacy groups and local politicians who seem perpetually more outraged by the enforcement of immigration and labor laws than by the exploitation of minors on their donors’ properties. Law enforcement responded with crowd control measures after reports of violence, dozens of injuries, and the tragic death of a worker attempting to flee. Meanwhile, the United Farm Workers union managed the mental gymnastics of condemning both the use of child labor and the federal response, as if the two were somehow morally equivalent.

Bigger Questions: Who Benefits From California’s Broken System?

The fallout from the Glass House Farms raid is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong under the radical left’s governance: laws that tie the hands of police, politicians who cash in on the very industries they’re supposed to regulate, and an entire political apparatus more invested in showboating resistance to federal law than in protecting the most vulnerable people in their state. The rescue of 14 trafficked children and the arrest of a child predator on Newsom donor property should have every Californian, and every American, asking: who really benefits from these policies?

As the investigation continues, Glass House Farms faces potential criminal charges, fines, and loss of licenses. The broader cannabis industry, already infamous for cutting corners and exploiting undocumented labor, is bracing for increased scrutiny. Politicians are scrambling to distance themselves from the donors who have bankrolled their campaigns while decrying the very enforcement actions that finally exposed the abuses they ignored. And the people of California? They are left with the bill, socially, economically, and morally, while the architects of this disaster double down on the same failed policies that created it.

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