George Retes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran, spent three days in jail after being mistakenly arrested during an immigration raid at a California marijuana farm, despite having no
criminal charges against him.
Retes, who works as a security guard at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, was taken into custody last Thursday during a federal operation targeting undocumented workers. According to Retes, federal agents forcefully removed him from his car, deploying both tear gas and pepper spray before restraining him with force.
“It took two officers to kneel on my back and one on my neck,” Retes said during a virtual press conference. “My hands were already behind my back, and I was covered in OC [oleoresin capsicum] spray.”
Despite identifying himself as a U.S. citizen and an employee of the farm, Retes said agents ignored his pleas. He was never informed of any charges and was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, where he was held in isolation and denied access to legal counsel or communication with his family.
Retes said the experience left him emotionally shaken, particularly because he missed his 3-year-old daughter’s birthday while in custody.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an immigrant or what color your skin is. No one deserves to be treated this way,” he said. “I love this country. I joined the Army to serve and protect it. This is not how it should be.”
Retes enlisted in the military at 18 and was deployed to Iraq in 2019. He was released from custody on Sunday afternoon, without any charges filed against him.
His sister, Destinee Magaña, told KABC, “He has a bad back and is a disabled veteran. It clearly says so on his car. This is how you're going to treat U.S. citizens?”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed to Reuters that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is reviewing Retes’ case, along with others arrested during the raid, for possible federal charges tied to a search warrant executed in Camarillo.
More than 360 people were detained in the coordinated raids at Glass House Farms locations in Camarillo and Carpinteria, which authorities described as one of the largest immigration enforcement actions since the beginning of the Trump administration.
Among those found at the farms were 10 undocumented minors, including eight unaccompanied children, according to Customs and Border Protection. California law permits minors as young as 12 to work on farms under specific conditions, such as outside of school hours and in non-hazardous jobs.
Tragedy struck during the Camarillo raid when Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old farmworker, fell from a greenhouse roof. He died from his injuries two days later. The United Farm Workers union reported that several other workers sustained critical injuries during the raids.
The operation sparked protests and confrontations with federal agents clad in military-style gear, as critics condemned the aggressive tactics used. Photo by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Department of Homeland Security), Wikimedia commons.
