Jaime Alanís García’s death in ICE raid spurs legal fight in California

On the morning of July 10, 2025, Jaime Alanís García left home for what would have been another ordinary day at work. A father, husband and laborer, Alanís García reported for his shift at Glass House Farms, a cannabis cultivation facility in Camarillo. He never returned home.

"Tragically, a human being's life was lost, a human being who was doing nothing other than to provide for his family," said Robert Simon, an attorney with the Justice Team law firm, which is representing Alanís García's family. He spoke during a press conference on August 6 outside Los Angeles City Hall. The family is also being represented by the law firm Singleton Schreiber.

According to the family's attorneys, the militarized raid amounted to a violent and unconstitutional assault—one that culminated in the first recorded death during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement workplace operation under the Trump administration. As chaos unfolded inside, agents outside escalated the scene further, firing tear gas and projectiles into a crowd of families and community members, injuring several.

García's family is now taking the first step in what could become a landmark legal battle. On August 5, their attorneys filed a federal tort claim against the U.S. government, seeking $47 million in damages for each of García's heirs. The filing—required before a formal lawsuit can proceed—alleges violations of García's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, including unlawful search and seizure and a denial of due process.

"This is akin to what happened to Breonna Taylor," Simon said at the press conference. "They did not have a legal warrant. They did not have probable cause. They just shot through a wall and killed a human being. They ended up being held accountable. It's a similar situation that we have here. I guarantee there's no warrant for Jaime Alanís." 

While little is known publicly about what transpired on the property that day, what is known, according to multiple reports and worker testimonies, is that over 300 employees were rounded up by federal agents. Whether a warrant existed remains a pivotal question. ICE and federal authorities have yet to produce one. And even if they do, Simon argues, "Warrants are very specific. They have to be a judicial warrant signed by a judge, not administrative."

The federal government has six months to respond to the tort claim—either by denying it, settling, or failing to respond, after which the family can move forward with a formal lawsuit. 

But the attorneys aren’t solely focused on the federal government—they’re also investigating whether Glass House Farms and the staffing agency that employed Alanís García bear any legal responsibility.

The family's legal team also places Alanís García's death in the broader context of what they describe as a series of increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement actions targeting Latino communities in California. On August 6, just a day after the tort claim was filed, ICE agents descended on Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard in Westlake. They called the operation "Trojan Horse."

"They were just rounding up people like cattle because they were brown and had an accent and that's it," Simon stressed. "No warrants, nothing."

Adding legal weight to the case, the lawyers cited a recent decision in Vasquez v. Noem, where a federal judge in California ruled that a similar enforcement action violated both the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. That decision, upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, may provide a critical precedent for García's family as they seek justice through the courts.

While federal law provides certain immunities for government agencies, the Federal Tort Claims Act allows for civil redress in cases involving misconduct. The challenge, however, is steep.

Plaintiffs cannot seek a jury trial for the claims against the government. But if Glass House Farms and its staffing agency are shown to have colluded with ICE or otherwise enabled the raid, they could face civil liability in California state court, where jury trials are permitted.

"There's evidence that Glass House may have tipped off ICE," Muñoz said. "And if payday was used as a lure—calling in workers who weren't scheduled—then that's entrapment. That's not just morally repugnant, it's legally actionable."

Complicating matters further are allegations of child labor at Glass House Farms in Camarillo. If the warrant was based on violations related to underage employment, the family's attorneys question why federal agents didn't arrest the owners of Glass House. The federal agents instead targeted the workers, many of whom may have been undocumented but were performing legal labor in a state where cannabis is fully legalized.

"Unseal the warrant," Simon said. 

Though García's death is singular, the implications are not. California is home to an estimated 1.8 million undocumented workers, many of whom labor in agriculture, construction, and service industries. While the state has taken strides to protect immigrant workers, federal enforcement continues to clash with state laws.

For the Alanís García family, the next six months will be a painful wait. If the government denies the claim—or says nothing—they are prepared to sue. And they are calling on the public for help. "We encourage anybody to share information because we need to corroborate all of these stories to see exactly what happened, "Simon told the press.

Robbie Godinez Muñoz, another attorney for the family with the Justice Team law firm, told CALÓ News that anyone afraid to come forward can contact him directly at robbie@justiceteam.com. "Having a conversation with us is not going to put anyone at risk," Godinez Muñoz emphasized.

While surrounded by his family, Juan Manuel Durán, Alanís García's brother-in-law, said in Spanish at the press conference, "We just want answers from the government because what they did was unjust."