U.S. citizens and legal residents sue over aggressive immigration raid at Idaho horse racing track
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 a violent operation. immigration raid At a rural horse racing track last year.
Families say state and federal law enforcement conspired to use unconstitutional and illegal tactics during the raid; These tactics include detaining people who appear to be Latino; keeping adults and some children zipped up for hours without access to food, water, or bathrooms; and searches of persons without reasonable suspicion of a crime.
Similar immigration networks marked with heavy use of force It circulated U.S. citizens and legal residents of other states. A construction worker and U.S. citizen from Alabama who says he was detained twice by immigration officials filed a federal lawsuit In his home state last year, he was demanding an end to the Trump administration’s workplace raids targeting industries with large immigrant workforces.
Other cases alleging racial profiling and unconstitutional detention have had mixed results in the courts. Last year, a federal judge in California issued a restraining order banning immigration. agents stopping people based solely on their race, language, occupation or location, but The Supreme Court lifted that decision By a 6-3 decision in September. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred, writing that judicial second-guessing about immigration officials’ brief stops for questioning would cripple lawful immigration enforcement efforts. But he also suggested that stops where agents use force could still face legal challenges.
The Idaho families were among about 400 people detained at the privately owned race track known as La Catedral, about an hour’s drive west of Boise. The October raid occurred as part of an FBI-led investigation into allegations of illegal gambling, but only five people were arrested at the event in connection with the investigation. More than 100 people were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations.
Lawyers for the ACLU of Idaho wrote in the lawsuit that the FBI had a criminal search warrant for a gambling investigation, but the operation was actually a “hunting expedition for immigration violations.”
The ACLU of Idaho wrote in the federal lawsuit that the races are a popular event for the local Latino community that is family-friendly, featuring food vendors and horseback riding events as well as games for children.
“Families with young children and elderly grandparents go to a beautiful outdoor event, looking forward to the moments between races when the kids are allowed to run on the track,” the ACLU wrote. However, on October 19, a group of 200 law enforcement officers flooded the property.
“Wearing military gear and face masks, they pointed guns at frightened families and barked orders. They shattered the windows of cars parked on the property, raining glass down on those inside, including children sheltering in the cars from the rain,” the ACLU said. “They threw obedient people to the ground and fired rubber bullets into the heads of young people.”
Law enforcement from multiple agencies participated in the raid, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FBI, Idaho State Police, and local police and sheriff’s deputies. The agencies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some police officers used racial epithets toward Latinos, and a man was hit in the head with a rifle butt after telling the officer he was a citizen and did not speak Spanish, according to the lawsuit. Others were left with zippers so tight that their skin was cut or their hands went numb.
Shortly after the raid, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said “ICE has dismantled an illegal horse racing, animal fighting and gambling business operation.” However, the court documents do not mention animal fighting and the track had a horse racing license. McLaughlin later added that ICE does not restrain or detain children.
Five families interviewed by The Associated Press after the raid said children as young as 11 were bound with zip ties and some were separated from family members for hours. Juana Rodriguez, one of the lead plaintiffs in the case, told the AP in October that her hands were zipped up for nearly four hours, so she couldn’t hold her 3-year-old son and care for him. According to the lawsuit, law enforcement officers did not allow the child, who was crying due to hunger and thirst, to take snacks from the vehicle.
Some detainees were denied access to restrooms, forcing them to urinate outside in full view of other detainees and law enforcement, according to the lawsuit.
None of the families were questioned about the gambling, and all were eventually released after proving they were citizens or legal permanent residents. They want a federal judge to make the case a class-action lawsuit on behalf of other detained legal residents and declare law enforcement violating federal law and the detainees’ constitutional rights. They also want compensation to be paid in an amount that will be proven at trial.
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Corrected spelling of Judge Kavanaugh’s name from ‘Brent’ to ‘Brett’.
