The small chapel at the Camino del Sol Funeral Home in Oxnard was full on July 21 for the memorial services of Jaime Alanís Garcia.
Garcia’s body lay in an open casket. A black beanie covered his head. His face was still and peaceful. A cloud of deep red roses lay on the foot of the casket.
“He was always laughing,” Garcia’s niece, Yesenia Duran, said. “He was such a sweet person, so giving, always in a good mood.”
Garcia, 57, fell 30 feet from a greenhouse roof during a massive federal immigration raid on a cannabis farm outside Camarillo and was hospitalized with what his family called “catastrophic” head and neck injuries. He succumbed to his wounds and died on July 12, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The farmworker’s death is the most severe consequence of a chaotic July 10 federal immigration operation at Glass House Farms facilities outside Camarillo and in Carpinteria. The Department of Homeland Security said it arrested 361 purported unlawful immigrants during the twin raids and picked up 14 minors.
Agents also arrested U.S. citizens George Retes and Jonathan Caravello during clashes with protesters outside the Camarillo greenhouse complex. Retes was held for three days before being released without charges. Caravello, a CSU Channel Islands professor, was released July 14 on bail and faces charges over his handling of a tear gas canister.
What happened to Garcia?
Well over 100 crowded into the Camino del Sol chapel on July 21, spilling into a hallway and overflow room. A handful of people wore black T-shirts with Garcia’s portrait and the words “Justice for Jaime.”
Gia Zelaya, one of the community members who joined the July 10 protest outside Glass House, arrived with fellow mourners. She said she didn’t know Garcia personally.
“It makes me really sad to see someone who lost their life and the government has no remorse,” Zelaya said. “I’m an American citizen, and I don’t stand with this.”
Duran said Garcia’s family is still waiting on information about his death, including a full autopsy report from the county medical examiner, but that federal accounts of his death don’t add up.
DHS said on social media that Garcia fell 30 feet after climbing to the greenhouse roof, but that their agents did not pursue Garcia and never took him into custody. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers called emergency services for medical care, the agency said.
Duran said the family believes Garcia scaled the greenhouse to get away from the agents.
“He was hiding to stay alive,” she said.
Duran said the family believes federal agents may have deployed tear gas and rubber bullets inside the facility and that the glass broke beneath Garcia.
Garcia was likely not alone above the greenhouse. Workers hid everywhere from the roof to trash cans and air ducts during the raid, farmworker families and immigration advocates told the Star. Some stayed hidden for hours after federal agents departed.
“We’re trying to get justice,” Duran said. Her uncle, she said, had no criminal record. “(He) didn’t deserve this.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called Garcia’s death “unacceptable” during a July 15 news conference.
“It’s lamentable that this happened,” Sheinbaum said in Spanish. “We express solidarity and support to the family, and also, there cannot be another case like this.”
Journey home
A handful of Mexican officials met with Garcia’s family in a side room before Monday night’s viewing and rosary services, including Ricardo Santana Velázquez, the head of Mexico’s Oxnard consulate, and Vanessa Calva Ruiz, an official from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We are helping the family repatriate his remains as part of his family’s wishes,” Calva Ruiz said.
Garcia’s body will remain in Oxnard through Thursday, Duran said, when it will begin the journey to his hometown in Michoacán, Mexico. Duran said the Mexican government helped by paying for transportation and fees.
“His wife and daughter are waiting for him,” Garcia’s family said in a GoFundMe post. “He was his family’s only provider.”
Deacon Fernando Flores, of Ventura’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church, led mourners through the rosary during the evening vigil. Flores said Garcia will receive a full funeral Mass at home in Michoacán.
A musician plucked through the chords of “Caminos de Michoacán,” a traditional ballad about a man searching for his lost love. The voice of Garcia’s brother-in-law climbed from a front pew above the chorus, joined soon by others.
The man continued to speak as the guitar faded. “He won’t return anymore. It’s a disgrace,” he said in Spanish. “Long live Jaime. To beautiful Michoacán we will take him.”
Isaiah Murtaugh covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or on Signal at 951-966-0914. Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Mourners pay their respects for farmworker at Oxnard funeral home
Reporting by Isaiah Murtaugh and Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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