Idaho Families Sue Over Latino Horse-Racing Raid

Three Idaho, Boise families are taking legal action after what they describe as a heavy-handed and discriminatory raid at a rural horse-racing track last year. 

“Direct Evidence of Racial Targeting”

The families, all US citizens or lawful permanent residents, were among roughly 400 people detained during the October operation at La Catedral, about an hour west of Boise.

While the raid stemmed from an FBI investigation into illegal gambling, only five people were arrested for gambling-related offenses. 

More than 100 were taken into custody on suspicion of immigration violations, many without being questioned about the gambling investigation at all.

The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Idaho, says state and federal agencies, including ICE, the FBI, Idaho State Police, and local authorities, used unconstitutional tactics. 

These included detaining people based on appearance, restraining adults and children in zip ties for hours, and denying food, water, and bathroom access. 

Attorneys say Latino detainees were treated worse than white detainees, with some left in painful restraints or forced to urinate in public.

Juana Rodriguez, one of the lead plaintiffs, recalled her hands being zip-tied for nearly four hours, leaving her unable to care for her 3-year-old son. 

“I have never seen so much direct evidence of racial targeting, and ethnic targeting, as I have in this case,” said ACLU attorney Jenn Rolnick Borchetta.

Class Action Lawsuit

The families want the lawsuit certified as a class action, a federal ruling that their rights were violated, and damages to be awarded. Their claims rely on the Fourth and 14th Amendments, as well as federal civil rights laws, including Section 1983, 1985, and 1986.

“This was a coordinated government scheme to weaponize an arrest warrant as cover for racial profiling on a massive scale,” said Paul Carlos Southwick, legal director at ACLU of Idaho. 

“The real objective was to deport hundreds of innocent people, no matter the human cost, while spreading terror throughout the Latine community.”

Officials, including the FBI and local law enforcement, have largely declined to comment. Nampa’s mayor said the city takes the matter seriously and is committed to following legal processes. 

ICE has maintained that the operation targeted illegal gambling and other criminal activity, though no evidence of animal fighting was cited in court documents.