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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Children were reportedly zip-tied during a multi-agency law enforcement raid in Wilder, Idaho, as hundreds of people were detained and police fired rubber bullets.
The operation took place on October 19 at La Catedral Arena, a horse racing venue west of Boise, according to The Idaho Statesman.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Newsweek that ICE arrested 105 migrants without legal status during the operation.
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“Over the weekend, ICE dismantled an illegal horse-racing, animal fighting, and a gambling enterprise operation out of a property known as La Cathedral Arena in Wilder, Idaho," Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, told Newsweek.
The FBI confirmed in a press release that the raid, carried out by approximately 200 law enforcement personnel from federal, state, and local agencies, had targeted an alleged illegal gambling operation involving horse betting at the venue.
Newsweek has contacted the FBI for further comment.
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Why It Matters
Immigration enforcement is at the forefront of the national conversation in the United States as the Trump administration pushes to remove millions of migrants without legal status as part of a hardline mass deportation policy. The administration is facing increased scrutiny as well as several allegations of misconduct against federal agents. There have been multiple reports of children being mistreated during enforcement operations.
What To Know
Nampa-based immigration lawyer Nikki Ramirez-Smith, told The Idaho Statesman: “There’s going to be a lot of kids who were severely traumatized by being tied up.”
Viviana Gonzalez, a Utah-based immigration attorney from Jerome, told The Idaho Statesman that her family was at the racetrack for their clothing business when agents arrived and zip-tied her 13-year-old sister.
During a video call with her mother, Gonzalez said she saw armed officers and people running. Her parents, both permanent residents, and her younger sister, a U.S. citizen, were frightened as agents took her father behind vans.
Officers then approached to zip-tie her mother and sister, she said.
Her family was eventually released, packed up their booth, and returned home to Jerome.
“This is not something that a U.S. citizen, 13-year-old girl, should ever experience,” Gonzalez told The Idaho Statesman. “There were younger children than her that they saw were being zip-tied.”
DHS did not address the allegations when approached for comment by Newsweek.
Ramirez-Smith said panic spread among the crowd after rumors circulated about what was happening to the children, according to The Idaho Statesman.
The crowd surged forward, was pushed back, and rubber bullets were fired, she said. Many of those detained were eventually released into a nearby farmer’s field, added the lawyer.
All children held were eventually released, according to Ramirez-Smith and the American Civil Liberties Union, who spoke with The Idaho Statesman.
ACLU members were in Wilder assisting affected families and held a community meeting Sunday evening to gather information, answer questions, and connect people with resources.
The operation involved multiple federal and state agencies, including the FBI, DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Idaho State Police, the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, and local police from Nampa and Caldwell, according to an FBI press release.
The release initially announced the arrests of four individuals connected to the alleged illegal gambling operation: Ivan Tellez, 37, of Wilder, Idaho; Samuel Bejarano, 37, of Nyssa, Oregon; Dayana Fajardo, 39, of Nyssa, Oregon; and Alejandro Estrada, 56, of Buhl, Idaho. A fifth individual, Cesar Orozco, 45, was taken into custody Monday evening in Meridian in connection with the same operation.
The raid drew immediate and vocal responses from the community. Crowds gathered outside the venue and detention sites, with family members demanding answers about the treatment of children and U.S. citizens among those held. Advocacy groups and legal representatives expressed concern over the use of restraints on minors, the transparency of the operation, and how long children were separated from family members.
What People Are Saying
McLaughlin told Newsweek: "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are dismantling criminal networks in the United States.”
Leo Morales, executive director of the ACLU of Idaho, said in a statement: “We are condemning this action in the strongest words possible. They could have done their work differently, but they chose to do this operation in the worst possible way.”
Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls of the Salt Lake City FBI said in a news release: “Illegal gambling isn’t a victimless crime. These operations can create an increase in violent crime, drug activity, and violence, putting communities at risk. I’m grateful for the collaboration and partnerships on the federal, state, and local level. Together, we’re working to keep our communities safe.”
The FBI said in a press release: “ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division was present as part of the broader federal team to process individuals who were found to have potential immigration violations during the course of the investigation. Their presence was limited to that specific federal responsibility and was separate from the criminal gambling investigation being led by the FBI.”
Nikki Ramirez-Smith told the Idaho Statesman on Sunday: “It’s just like when Americans go to a rodeo. … Some people are gambling, but it’s very few. I would say probably — I mean, I can’t even say how many — but 90% of people there are not gambling.”
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