U.S. citizens and legal residents sue over aggressive immigration raid
at Idaho horse racing track
[February 11, 2026]
By REBECCA BOONE
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Three Idaho families who are U.S. citizens and
lawful permanent residents are suing after they and hundreds of others
were detained for hours during an aggressive immigration raid at a rural
horse racing track last year.
The families say state and federal law enforcement agencies conspired to
use unconstitutional tactics during the raid, including detaining people
because they appeared to be Latino; keeping adults and some children in
zip ties for hours without access to food, water or bathrooms; and
searching individuals without reasonable suspicion of a crime.
Similar immigration dragnets marked by a heavy use of force have
entangled U.S. citizens and legal residents in other states. An Alabama
construction worker and U.S. citizen who says he was detained twice by
immigration agents filed a federal lawsuit in his state last year
demanding an end to Trump administration workplace raids targeting
industries with large immigrant workforces.
Other lawsuits alleging racial profiling and unconstitutional detention
have had mixed results in the courts. Last year, a federal judge in
California issued a restraining order barring immigration agents from
stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location,
but the Supreme Court lifted that order in September in a 6-3 ruling.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurrence that judicial
second-guessing of how immigration officers carry out brief stops for
questioning would chill lawful immigration enforcement efforts. But he
also suggested stops by agents using force could still face legal
challenges.
Idaho raid targeted an event popular among local Latino families
The Idaho families were among roughly 400 people detained at the
privately owned race track known as La Catedral, about an hour's drive
west of Boise. The October raid came amid an FBI-led investigation into
allegations of illegal gambling, but only five people at the event were
arrested in connection with the investigation. More than 100 others were
arrested on suspicion of immigration violations.
The FBI had a criminal search warrant for the gambling investigation,
but the operation was essentially a “fishing expedition for immigration
violations,” attorneys with the ACLU of Idaho wrote in the lawsuit.
The races are a popular family-friendly event for the local Latino
community, with food vendors present and games for kids held, besides
the equestrian events.
“Families with young children and elderly grandparents go for a nice
outdoor activity, looking forward to the moments between races when kids
are allowed to run down the track," the ACLU wrote. But on Oct. 19, a
swarm of 200 law enforcement officers flooded the property.
“Wearing militarized gear and face coverings, they pointed guns and
screamed orders at frightened families," the ACLU wrote.
Multiple agencies took part in the raid, including U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, the FBI, Idaho State Police, and local police and
sheriff's deputies.
“We take this matter seriously and are committed to following the legal
process with integrity and professionalism,” said Nampa Mayor Rick
Hogaboam. The city and the Nampa Police Chief are both named as
defendants. The FBI and the Canyon County Sheriff's Office declined to
comment. Other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
[to top of second column]
|
La Catedral Arena horse race track in Wilder, Idaho is seen in Oct.
22, 2025, three days after the FBI and other law enforcement
agencies raided the property as part of a gambling investigation.
(AP Photo/Rebecca Boone, File)
Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said
afterward that “ICE dismantled an illegal horse-racing, animal
fighting, and a gambling enterprise operation.” However, court
documents make no mention of animal fighting, and the track had a
horse-racing license. McLaughlin later added that ICE did not
restrain or arrest children.
ACLU says officers treated Latino detainees worse than white
detainees
Some of the officers used racial epithets for Latinos, and used more
force against people perceived to be Latino than they did against
detainees who appeared to be white, said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, an
attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation,
speaking at a news conference Tuesday. Some detainees were left in
zip ties so tight their skin was cut or their hands went numb.
Others were denied bathroom access, forcing them to urinate outside
in view of others, according to the lawsuit.
“I have never seen so much direct evidence of racial targeting, and
ethnic targeting, as I have in this case,” Borchetta said.
Five families later told The Associated Press that kids as young as
11 were restrained, and children were separated from family members
for hours. Juana Rodriguez, one of the lawsuit's lead plaintiffs in
the lawsuit, said in October that her hands were zip-tied for almost
four hours, leaving her unable to pick up and care for her
3-year-old son.
None of the families were questioned about gambling, and they were
released after proving citizenship or lawful permanent residency.
They want a federal judge to make the lawsuit a class action, and to
declare that the law enforcement agencies violated federal law and
the constitutional rights of detainees. They also want to be paid
for damages in an amount to be proven at trial.
Families say law enforcement agencies conspired to violate civil
rights
The lawsuit relies on the Fourth Amendment's protection against
unreasonable searches and seizures, the 14th Amendment's promise of
equal protection, and three post-Civil War federal laws created to
combat a campaign of violence against the newly emancipated Black
population.
Section 1983 gives individuals the right to sue state and local
government employees for civil rights violations. Section 1985 makes
it illegal for two or more people to conspire to interfere with
someone's civil rights, and Section 1986 says individuals can be
held liable for damages if they know about a conspiracy to violate
civil rights and they neglect to try to stop the wrongful act,
despite having the power to do so.
“I want to be clear about what this was: A coordinated government
scheme to weaponize an arrest warrant as cover for racial profiling
on a massive scale,” said Paul Carlos Southwick, the ACLU of Idaho
legal director. “The real objective was to deport hundreds of
innocent people, no matter the human cost, while spreading terror
throughout the Latine community.”
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
