U.S. citizens and legal residents sue over aggressive immigration raid at Idaho horse racing track
Rebecca Boone for the Associated Press reported that three Idaho families who are U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are suing under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for a conspiracy to violate their civil rights after they and hundreds of others were detained for hours during an immigration raid at a rural Idaho horse racing track last fall.
"The families say state and federal law enforcement agencies conspired to use unconstitutional tactics during the raid, including detaining people because they appeared to be Latino; keeping adults and some children in zip ties for hours without access to food, water or bathrooms; and searching individuals without reasonable suspicion of a crime."
The ACLU press release , which includes the complaint, reads in part:
"The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Idaho filed a putative class action lawsuit today challenging an immigration raid carried out at a popular family event in Wilder, Idaho. In October 2025, more than 200 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers descended on the La Catedral arena with armored trucks and helicopters, flashbang grenades, and guns drawn, detaining approximately 400 spectators – including U.S. citizens and children – for four hours of detention in inhumane conditions.
On October 19, at the height of an otherwise festive and calm day, masked law enforcement stormed La Catedral arena to conduct a dragnet immigration raid. They shoved compliant people to the ground, forcibly dragged people out of their cars, shot rubber bullets, and threw flashbang grenades into cars that had people sitting inside. Parents and children were zip tied at gunpoint, and agents subjected people to hours of violent and degrading treatment. . . .
The ACLU’s lawsuit, brought on behalf of three Latino families who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and a putative class, is the first major challenge in the second Trump administration to ICE tactics that discriminate based on ethnicity."
The complaint claims that ICE officers conspired with Idaho police to violate the civil rights of the class. 42 U.S.C. 1983 is designed for civil rights suits against state and local officials. However, civil rights claims under 1983 against federal officers for conspiring with state and local officials have succeeded in the past.
