Immigration raid at Louisiana racetrack ends with more than 80 arrests
[June 19, 2025]
By JACK BROOK
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested
upward of 80 people unlawfully in the country during a raid at a
southwest Louisiana racetrack, the agency announced Tuesday.
ICE said it raided the Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel and Casino in
Calcasieu Parish on Monday alongside other state and federal agencies,
including the FBI and the U.S. Border Patrol. The raid angered one
racehorse industry group and comes at a time when the Trump
administration is pursuing more arrests.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and the main architect
of Trump’s immigration policies, has pushed ICE to aim for at least
3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five
months of Trump’s second term.
ICE said authorities had “received intelligence” that businesses
operating at the racetrack's stables employed “unauthorized workers” who
were then targeted in the raid.
Of the dozens of workers detained during the raid, “at least two” had
prior criminal records, according to the agency.
“These enforcement operations aim to disrupt illegal employment networks
that threaten the integrity of our labor systems, put American jobs at
risk and create pathways for exploitation within critical sectors of our
economy,” said Steven Stavinoha, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
director of field operations in New Orleans, in a written statement.
But some racing industry leaders were livid.
“To come in and take that many workers away and leave the horse racing
operation stranded and without workers is unacceptable,” said Peter
Ecabert, general counsel for the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and
Protective Association, which represents 29,000 thoroughbred racehorse
owners and trainers, including at Delta Downs.
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Workers stand handcuffed after being arrested by U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, ICE, at Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel and
Casino in Calcasieu Parish, near Vinton, La., on Wednesday, June 18,
2025. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)
“If they (ICE) were willing to come in and try and work with us, we
are willing to make sure things are done in an orderly way," Ecabert
added. "But what they have done here leaves everyone in a bad
situation.”
Groomers and other stable workers are essential and allow horses to
receive round-the-clock skilled care, Ecabert said, noting that the
work is grueling and it can be very difficult to find people willing
to do the job.
David Strow, a spokesperson for the racetrack's owner, Boyd Gaming
Corporation, said that the company “complies fully” with federal
labor laws and that “no Delta Downs team members were involved.”
“We will cooperate with law enforcement as requested," he added in
an emailed statement.
In the past few weeks, ICE has engaged in other large-scale raids
across Louisiana. On May 27, the agency raided a federally funded
flood-reduction project in New Orleans and reported arresting 15
Central American workers. And the agency said it arrested 10 Chinese
nationals working at massage parlors in Baton Rouge during a June 11
raid.
Rachel Taber, an organizer with the Louisiana-based immigrant rights
group Unión Migrante, criticized the raids as harmful and
hypocritical.
“Our economy runs on immigrants,” Taber said. “And when we let
ourselves be divided by racial hatred, our economy for everyone
suffers.”
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