Federal lawsuit says Idaho raid used a gambling warrant to go ‘fishing’ for immigrants

ACLU files federal lawsuit in Boise

The ACLU filed a federal class-action lawsuit in February 2026 on behalf of three Latino families caught up in a large-scale law enforcement raid at a horse racing track in Wilder, Idaho.

All the plaintiffs are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, including four children ages 3, 10, 15, and 16.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boise, says the families were detained for hours on Oct. 19, 2025, despite having no connection to any criminal activity.

Hundreds gathered for family horse races

About 400 people had come to La Catedral Arena, a privately owned horse racing track, for races, food, and children’s games.

The event was a popular weekend gathering for the local Latino community, held with a county permit.

Around 1 p.m., more than 200 federal, state, and local officers rolled in with armored trucks, helicopters, flash-bang grenades, and guns drawn.

Officers in tactical gear and face coverings ordered the crowd to the racetrack area. Most adults and some teenagers were restrained with zip ties, according to the lawsuit.

FBI led a gambling investigation

The FBI ran the operation as part of an investigation into alleged illegal gambling at the track. The track owner, Ivan Tellez, had a county permit for horse racing but lacked a state license for parimutuel gambling.

Two undercover FBI operations earlier in 2025 found evidence of unlicensed betting at the races. Officers arrested five people connected to the gambling probe that day.

The lawsuit says none of the detained families were ever questioned about gambling.

ICE detained 105 on immigration charges

While only five people faced gambling arrests, ICE detained 105 others on immigration charges. The ACLU calls the operation a “fishing expedition for immigration violations” that used a criminal warrant as cover.

Immigration lawyers estimate that about 75 of those detained have been deported, and about 26 have won release through court-ordered habeas corpus petitions.

Many of those held said they believed they were simply attending a horse racing event and knew nothing about any illegal activity.

Lawsuit alleges officers sorted people by skin color

The lawsuit says officers separated people into groups based on perceived immigration status. It alleges officers assumed light-skinned people were citizens and dark-skinned people were undocumented.

The complaint says some officers directed racial slurs at Latino detainees.

An ACLU attorney said she had never seen so much direct evidence of racial and ethnic targeting in a single case. No one was released until they could prove U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency.

Families describe hours in zip ties

Plaintiff Juana Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen born in Idaho, says officers zip-tied her hands for nearly four hours. Her 3-year-old son cried and begged for food and water, but officers would not let her hold or feed him.

A 14-year-old U.S. citizen says officers zip-tied her hands while she was caring for her younger siblings. CBS News obtained images appearing to show zip ties and bruises on the teenager’s wrists.

Detainees also say officers denied them access to bathrooms.

Multiple agencies named as defendants

The lawsuit names ICE, the FBI, Idaho State Police, the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, and the Caldwell and Nampa police departments.

Individual defendants include ICE Acting Director Kenneth Porter, Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue, and the police chiefs of Caldwell and Nampa.

Three FBI agents are also named, along with unnamed officers from multiple agencies. The city of Nampa acknowledged the lawsuit and said it would follow the legal process with integrity.

The FBI and Canyon County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment.

Government disputes key allegations

The Department of Homeland Security said ICE helped dismantle an illegal gambling, horse-racing, and animal-fighting operation and lawfully arrested more than 105 undocumented immigrants.

Court documents, however, make no mention of animal fighting, and the track held a horse-racing permit. DHS said ICE did not zip-tie, restrain, or arrest any children.

The FBI initially denied that children were zip-tied, but later revised its statement to say no “young children” were restrained. DHS called the lawsuit an attempt to obstruct deportation efforts.

Suit invokes Civil War-era civil rights laws

The suit relies on the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. The ACLU also invoked three post-Civil War federal statutes.

Section 1983 lets people sue state and local officials for civil rights violations. Section 1985 makes it illegal for two or more people to conspire to violate civil rights.

Section 1986 holds people liable if they know about such a conspiracy and fail to act. The plaintiffs seek class-action status and damages.

Internal email credited raid for visibility

The lawsuit cites an email attributed to ICE leadership sent after the raid thanking the agencies involved.

The email reportedly said the operation resulted in 105 arrests and credited it with putting the Boise ICE office “on the map.”

The ACLU argues these internal messages contradict the government’s public framing of the raid as a gambling enforcement action.

The ACLU’s Idaho legal director called the raid a coordinated scheme to use criminal warrants as cover for mass racial profiling.

Supreme Court ruling looms over case

In September 2025, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo to lift a California judge’s restrictions on immigration stops.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that judicial second-guessing of brief immigration stops could chill enforcement, but suggested that stops involving force could still face legal challenges.

The Idaho lawsuit may test that line, since it alleges both racial profiling and significant force. Other lawsuits alleging racial profiling in immigration enforcement have had mixed results.

Wilder residents describe lasting fear

Wilder is a farming town of about 1,725 people where roughly 91 percent of the local precinct voted for Trump in 2024.

Local farmers say the raid created a labor shortage because many workers have been deported or gone into hiding. The day after the raid, half the students in Wilder’s schools were absent.

More than 70 percent of the student body is Latino. Residents say people of all backgrounds freeze up when they see black SUVs in town.

The lawsuit says plaintiff families continue to suffer emotional distress.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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