A high-powered investment manager with an ownership stake in marijuana facilities allegedly staffed by children and criminal illegal migrants has poured thousands into mostly Democratic campaigns — and even Republican Nikki Haley’s failed presidential bid.
Although the staffing of pot farms with children and illegal immigrants may violate several laws, there is no illegality with regard to simply maintaining a marijuana grow site in California.
A joint Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operation in July targeted two marijuana grow sites in Southern California, resulting in the apprehension of hundreds of illegal migrants and the rescue of roughly 14 migrant children. James Rosenwald— a founding partner of Dalton Investments and a direct owner of a large stake in Glass House Brands, the company targeted by the raid — has donated more than $93,000 in support of high-profile Democrats and Democrat-aligned groups over the past decade, according to campaign donation filings reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Glass House Brands and Rosenwald did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF.
Since 2015, the investment kingpin has shelled out nearly $100k support of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Adam Schiff and pro-Democrat political action committees such as ActBlue, Progressive PAC, Blue Momentum and the California Democratic Party. The donations are listed in Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings and California public campaign finance records.
Rosenwald controls roughly 14% of total voting power within Glass House Brands, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents. He is listed as the founding partner of Dalton Investments and previously served as an advisor to the Soros Fund Management. His company biography also boasts that he “advised numerous Soros Group funds between 1992 and 1998.”
Rosenwald shelled out over $3,000 in support of Hector De La Torre’s failed 2010 bid for California Insurance Commissioner, according to campaign donation records. De La Torre, a longtime Democratic politician who previously served in the California State Assembly, currently sits on the Glass House Brands board of directors.
The former Soros Fund advisor hasn’t donated exclusively to Democrats, however, as FEC filings over the past decade show he made donations totaling at least $3,300 to Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign in November 2023 — when she was mounting a long-shot bid against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The donations preceded a sweeping immigration raid at Glass House Brand facilities over the summer that caught the attention of national media and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
ICE and CBP agents arrested more than 360 illegal migrants while executing search warrants at two California marijuana grow sites in Camarillo and Carpinteria on July 10. Among those apprehended were several individuals with serious criminal histories, such as a Mexican national previously convicted of kidnapping, attempted rape and attempted child molestation, a Mexican national convicted of rape, and an additional Mexican man previously convicted three different times for burglary.
Congressional Democrats appeared confused over the nature of the raids in the immediate aftermath, with several lawmakers issuing public statements that suggested immigration agents had targeted a regular produce farm.
“Instead of prioritizing dangerous criminals Trump is targeting families that have been here for years picking our food,” Arizona Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego stated at the time. Gallego’s statement was in reaction to an X post that falsely suggested the raid targeted a regular farm that “keep[s] America’s produce aisles stocked.”
American grocery stores do not typically stock marijuana in produce aisles, even in states where recreational pot is legal.
“They said they were going to focus on violent criminals. They’re not. They’re just grabbing people, grabbing sometimes citizens as well as non-citizens,” Schiff stated to local media days after the farm raids.
Schiff’s Senate campaign received at least $6,600 from Rosenwald in January 2024, FEC records show. His office did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
During the raids, immigration agents also located several juvenile illegal migrants, eight of whom were Unaccompanied Alien Children, according to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, who said at the time that the marijuana facilities were under investigation for violating child labor laws.
Later that month, members of the House Judiciary Committee announced they were launching their own investigation into the matter, expressing concern over potential labor violations and the apparent presence of dangerous criminal migrants working alongside children. The committee confirmed to the DCNF that the investigation remains ongoing.
In a press release issued in August, Glass House Brands appeared to blame third-party contractors who provided workers to the farms.The company stated that it has since terminated its relationship with two farm labor contractors and now uses experts to review employment documents for validity and age gating.
Graham Farrar, the president of Glass House Brands, has donated thousands of dollars to help elect Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic candidates over the years, according to federal and state campaign finance records reviewed by the DCNFÂ in July.
The marijuana executive doled out $10,000 to Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign and handed out $1,000 to California Democratic Assemblymember Gregg Hart in July 2023, according to California campaign finance records. Farrar also doled out thousands in donations to the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee’s federal political action committee and Democratic California Rep. Salud Carbajal, per FEC records.
Newsom at the time pushed back against reports about the Farrar’s financial support of Democrats, casting the company’s CEO and chairman, Kyle Kazan, as a bigger donor to Republicans. However, California campaign finance records show Kazan has also given generously to Democrats over the years, with thousands in donations to ActBlue California.
Three House committees are banding together to subpoena Democratic fundraising giant ActBlue on Tuesday, accusing the platform of having accepted “fraudulent or illegal” donations for left-wing candidates.
“At the California marijuana facilities, ICE and CBP law enforcement rescued at least 14 migrant children from what looks like exploitation, forced child labor, and potentially human trafficking or smuggling while facing assault and even gunfire,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the immediate aftermath of the July raid.
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