FBI & ICE Raid at Idaho Racetrack Blurs Line Between Gambling and Immigration

Federal agents raided a southwestern Idaho horse racetrack last month in a sweeping operation that has blurred the lines between gambling and immigration enforcement.

The October 19 multi-agency action resulted in over 400 detentions and more than 100 arrests. However, it has drawn criticism for allegedly using illegal wagering as a pretext for deportations.

Dual Federal Involvement

The coordinated raid involved several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agencies conducted the raid after investigations of illegal betting activity tied to the track’s racing operations. Out of the arrested, almost all (105) were for immigration violations rather than gambling-related activities (5).

The track at La Catedral Arena has long been a popular destination for the Hispanic community in Idaho. Canyon County, where it’s located, has the most Hispanic residents in the state.

ICE has not released a list of those arrested or detailed the specific charges. However, local advocates say that many of those detained were immigrant workers who handled day-to-day racetrack operations.

Local Fallout

The raid has unsettled the local racing community and immigrant families who frequent the track. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as federal agents moved in. Immigration advocates said the show of force swept up families and children. They claim federal agents restrained some of them during the operation.

The Associated Press described how “within moments … Anabel Romero was on the ground with her hands restrained behind her … as law-enforcement officers brandishing guns removed her 14-year-old daughter … and zip-tied the teen while her young siblings looked on.”

Immigration attorney Nikki Ramirez-Smith told the Idaho Capital Sun: “We do have credible information that the children were zip-tied and tied up and handcuffed. … There were toddlers there; there were 5-year-olds there. There were a number of little children who were detained, and watched a very horrific and traumatic event that I think went way beyond what was necessary.”

Another mother and US citizen, Juana Rodriguez, said authorities restrained her while her 3-year-old clung to her: “They would just tell him, ‘You need to hold your mom’s shirt.’ When he would go a little away from me, they would push him back to me and say, ‘Keep him with you!’”

A racetrack security guard, John Carter, who said he was also zip-tied, criticized the scope of the raid. “It’s OK to take your family to a public event. Just because there are 10 people in a crowd doing something illegal, that doesn’t make everyone in that crowd illegal,” he told the AP.

“Yes, I voted for Trump, I’m not ashamed to say it. But I don’t like the way this was handled and the claims they are making.” Carter added that officers “used flash-bang devices, pointed guns at people, and deployed a pepper bomb in a vehicle where someone tried to hide.”

A Blurred Enforcement Frontier

The Idaho operation highlights how gambling venues that employ immigrant labor could become a more common target for ICE and other federal agencies.

The raid is not unique. In the summer, ICE executed a similar raid at Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel and Casino in Louisiana. The agency arrested 80 individuals for being present in the country without authorization.

ICE conducted the raid after receiving intelligence that the stables at the property employed illegal workers. At the time, ICE said that the operations aim to “disrupt illegal employment networks that threaten the integrity of our labor systems.”

Some Justify Raids

The raids have split opinions. While civil rights advocates have condemned the Idaho raid as excessive, others have publicly applauded the action. Reader comments on the Associated Press story reflect that divide.

One commenter wrote: “Thank you, ICE, for doing your job. I’m sick of my tax dollars going towards illegal aliens when our own American people who are suffering and need help (children, vets, elders, homeless). Send illegals home of all ages. If you want back in the good ole USA, do it [legally], bottom line. To all who don’t like my post, too bad. Pack your bags and leave with ’em.”

Another added: “It’s not what they’re doing. It’s how. Swooping in and zip tying every brown person is actually illegal. It’s Gestapo tactics. I hope the lawsuits are flying. I can see many here are happy to have a dictator and national police. It’s sad that this is what America has become.”

A third praised the enforcement directly: “Thank you… for reporting on the arrests and hopeful deportation of people who came here illegally. This is what the millions of people in the 2,633 counties in America voted for. Finally: vindication and enforcement of immigration laws on the books.”

The contrasting responses underscore how immigration enforcement—even when intertwined with gambling investigations—remains one of the most polarizing issues in US public life.