A U.S. citizen and Army veteran spent three days in jail after being arrested during an immigration raid at a California marijuana farm last Thursday.
George Retes, 25, who works as a security guard for the Glass House Farms in Camarillo, said Wednesday he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his car, pinned down by federal agents and arrested.
“They took two officers to kneel on my back and then one on my neck to arrest me, even though my hands were already behind my back and I was covered in OC [oleoresin capsicum] spray,” he told reporters during a video press conference.
Retes wasn’t released until Sunday afternoon and was never charged, Reuters reported.
“I told them everything – that I was a citizen, I worked there, and they didn’t care. They still never told me my charges, and they sent me away. They sent me to a place in downtown L.A. without even telling me what I was arrested for,” Retes said.
Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center where he said he was put in a special cell and checked on each day after he became emotionally distraught because he was missing his three-year-old daughter’s birthday party Saturday.
He said federal agents never allowed him a chance to contact a lawyer or his family during his detention.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an immigrant, it doesn’t matter the color of your skin…No one deserves to be treated this way,” Retes said, adding, “I hope this never happens to anyone ever again.”
Retes had joined the Army at 18 and was deployed to Iraq in 2019.
“I joined the service to help better myself,” he said. “I did it because I love this [expletive] country. We are one nation and no matter what, we should be together. All this separation and stuff between everyone is just the way it shouldn’t be.”
Retes’ sister, Destinee Magaña, previously told KABC, “He has a bad back, and he’s disabled, and it clearly says it in the back of his car that he’s a disabled veteran. This is how you’re going to treat U.S. citizens?”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, told Reuters, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is reviewing his case, along with dozens of others, for potential federal charges related to the execution of the federal search warrant in Camarillo.”
More than 360 people were arrested during immigration raids at Glass House Farms facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria last Thursday, the Associated Press previously reported, citing federal authorities.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said agents found 10 undocumented children at the facility, including eight who were unaccompanied.
Under California law, minors as young as 12 can work on farms but only in non-hazardous jobs and outside of school hours.
Federal authorities characterized the raids as one of the largest deportation operations since President Donald Trump took office and began his immigration crackdown.
There was a standoff in the Camarillo raid between authorities in military gear and people protesting Trump’s crackdown.
Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old farmworker, fell from a greenhouse roof during the Camarillo raid and died Saturday from his injuries, his family confirmed to the AP.
This is the first known death during Trump’s ICE raids.
The United Farm Workers union said several workers were critically injured during the raids as well.
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