Migrants apprehended in marijuana farm raids in US recount living nightmare

Yahir remembers growing up in Mexico without a bed or a stove. He didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 10, and in the mid-1990s — when he was 13 — he crossed with a group illegally into the US in search of work.

He settled in California and worked on farms across the state. He met his wife and had six children, the eldest of whom is now 15.

Then, on July 10, Yahir, 43, was apprehended while working at a marijuana farm in southern California, in one of the largest immigration raids since US President Donald Trump took office.

“It was like a nightmare, but I was awake,” said Yahir, his skin dotted by sun stains from working in the fields, just hours after being deported to Tijuana. Yahir asked to withhold his last name to protect his family in the US.

As Trump ramps up his deportation efforts targeting immigrants in the country illegally, Mexicans - with the largest population of immigrants in the US without status - are living in fear. They are being arrested at restaurants, farms, Home Depot outlets and 7-Eleven convenience stores.

A remarkable 42% of Hispanic adults are worried they or someone close to them might be deported, according to a Pew Research Center survey from earlier this year.

Last week, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to halt a court order restricting immigration stops on the basis of what language they speak or where they work.

Yahir said he knew of other immigrants being deported. “But I never thought it would happen to me,” he said, adding that he didn’t have a criminal record. Reuters couldn’t independently confirm his account.

More than 360 alleged immigration offenders were apprehended during the July 10 marijuana farm raids in southern California. One immigrant worker died after he fell 30 feet from a greenhouse roof.

The president of the United Farm Workers union criticized the raids, saying they "terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families."

'My life is no longer here'

Manuel, 32, another worker at the Camarillo farm, said he hid among marijuana plants in a greenhouse for five hours until agents cut the locks on the door. An agent in military garb then hit him on the head and put a gun to his chest, he said.

Manuel declined to share his last name because he hopes to one day return to the US legally. He overstayed his tourist visa in 2023.

The Department of Homeland Security said it could not comment on Manuel's allegations without further evidence.

After his arrest, Manuel bounced between detention centers and eventually ended up in one in Adelanto, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, where he said he slept on the floor of a freezing cell that reeked of urine. “The torture was more mental but it was horrible,” he said.

Democratic lawmakers who visited the nearly 2,000-bed center in June criticized its conditions, saying some detainees were unable to get fresh clothes or towels for more than a week.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said, "The allegations about the Adelanto detention center are FALSE. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers."

The DHS added 185,000 people have been deported from the U.S. during the second Trump administration.

Manuel and Yahir were both deported to Tijuana. Manuel has returned to his hometown in the state of Oaxaca but Yahir remains in Tijuana, unsure of what to do next. He has never been away from his children for so long, he said.

“I am from Mexico but my life is no longer here.”