Trump DHS repeats accusations of child labor against marijuana cultivator

In the wake of Thursday’s deadly immigration raids at two legal California marijuana cultivation sites, the U.S.Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday repeated accusations that Glass House Brands was using undocumented workers and child labor.

However, state marijuana regulators told MJBizDaily that “no minors were on the premises” during a May 2025 site visit. ADVERTISEMENT Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs, aired the claim during an appearance on Fox News in which she also criticized Gov.

Gavin Newsom for speaking out against the raids.On Thursday, federal authorities detained 319 people suspected of entering the United States illegally, according to DHS.

Agents also “rescued 14 children from potential forced labor,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a July 12 update.It was those children that have become the focus of messaging from Washington in the days since.

“We think that they likely faced exploitation, potentially slave labor, human trafficking,” McLaughlin said during a Monday news segment also posted to DHS’ main account on X.Kyle Kazan, Glass House Brands’ president, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MJBizDaily.

In a statement last week, the company said it complied with “valid” immigration warrants and denied it “knowingly” broke any immigration laws.First known death from ICE raids in marijuana farm chaos Thursday’s raids at Glass House Brands locations in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties left at least one worker dead from an apparent fall.

Jamie Alanis, 57, died on Saturday from injuries sustained during the raids Thursday, the first known death stemming from the Trump Administration’s ongoing immigration sweeps. ADVERTISEMENT Alanis reportedly called family members to report he was hiding from immigration agents before falling 30 feet ...