At least 40 farmworkers from Santa Maria, Ventura and Oxnard were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Tuesday during workplace raids on agricultural fields.
Erica Diaz, senior policy advocate for the Central Coast Alliance United for Sustainable Economy, said it was one of the worst workplace raids they’ve seen on the Central Coast in 15 years.
On Tuesday, a crew leader on a field on the west side of Santa Maria noticed three unmarked vehicles parading through the fields and suspected that they were ICE officers, according to Diaz. The crew leader alerted other supervisors, and while some employees fled the fields, some were taken into custody, Diaz said…