Ten of the 14 children found at the marijuana grow sites in California did not have a parent present at the facility, according to Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection conducted an operation at two marijuana grow sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo, California last week and found 14 migrant children working among over 360 illegal aliens at the facilities.
“Our ICE enforcement officers found 14 children, 10 who were unaccompanied. They were likely being exploited—potential slave or forced labor, potential child and human trafficking, so this is something that is incredible disturbing and goes far beyond politics,” McLaughlin told Fox News over the weekend.
During the four years of the Biden administration, encounters with unaccompanied alien children at the southern border reached over 540,000, more than doubling from the nearly 235,000 unaccompanied alien children encountered under the first Trump administration. CBP has encountered about 4,000 unaccompanied children at the southern border since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
A convicted kidnapper was among the 361 illegal aliens apprehended at the marijuana facilities.
Roman Izquierdo is from Mexico and has been “convicted of kidnapping, attempted rape and attempted child molestation,” according to a DHS press release. He was deported in 2006 but returned to the U.S.
Also, among those apprehended is Juan Duarte-Velasquez, a convicted rapist from Mexico.
Authorities also arrested Salvadoran Jose Orellana who has been convicted of a hit-and-run.
Hundreds of rioters attempted to interrupt the enforcement operation in California, according to DHS, including four U.S. citizens who are being “criminally processed for assaulting or resisting officers.”
“The rioters damaged vehicles and one violent agitator fired a gun at law enforcement officers,” according to DHS. “The Federal Bureau of Investigations is now offering $50,000 for any information leading to the arrest of this violent rioter.”
DHS is currently investigating the situation related to the unaccompanied alien children found at the marijuana farms and “potential child labor violations.”
