ICE detained immigrants with work visas in Wilder raid, attorney says
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Wilder racetrack raid
Follow our coverage of the FBI-led raid on Wilder’s La Catedral Arena
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A local immigration lawyer said three of her clients who were legal residents of the U.S. were taken in Wilder on Sunday.
Hundreds of law enforcement agents over the weekend swarmed La Catedral Arena as part of what the FBI said was an investigation into illegal horse race betting. While court records showed agents have arrested only five people in connection with the gambling, more than 100 were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to federal and witness accounts.
Nikki Ramirez-Smith, a Nampa-based immigration lawyer, told the Idaho Statesman the people detained included at least three who legally resided in the United States. They have not been charged with any crimes in connection with the gambling, she said.
Ramirez-Smith, who represents some of those detained, said three of her clients are in the country legally with records to prove it. Two of them were released, while the other remains in custody, she told the Statesman.
“The next day, we had one that we got out because he absolutely wasn’t deportable and had a work permit,” Ramirez-Smith said.
The third client, who has a work permit, remains detained, according to Ramirez-Smith. She said she filed a writ of habeus corpus, which is an order asking law enforcement “to produce a prisoner they are holding and to justify the prisoner’s continued confinement,” the United States Courts website states.
Multiple agencies, including ICE, the FBI and local law enforcement, on Sunday assisted in holding about 400 people at the arena, according to a statement from Gov. Brad Little.
Many were zip-tied for hours and questioned on their immigration status, witnesses told the Statesman. More than 100 were detained as “illegal aliens,” according to a statement made by Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
The Idaho Statesman followed up with ICE on Wednesday, asking whether the agency could confirm that all 105 people held by ICE were “illegal aliens.” Regional ICE spokesperson Alethea Smock declined to answer and directed the Statesman to the Department of Homeland Security.
Homeland Security and McLaughlin did not respond to the Statesman.
FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker previously told the Statesman by email that ICE’s presence was “separate from the criminal gambling investigation being led by the FBI.”
