On Monday, about 100 people gathered in front of the Canyon County Administration building in Caldwell to protest an ICE raid in Wilder. The FBI was scheduled to hold a press conference but it was abruptly cancelled shortly beforehand.
Questions remain about the law enforcement intervention in Southwest Idaho on Sunday night, which included ICE agents. Activists and community members gathered in Caldwell Monday to press for answers.
Four men were arrested and indicted on illegal gambling charges on Sunday following a raid at a horse track family event in Wilder, according to an affidavit released by the FBI.
But 200 law enforcement agents, including ICE, assisted in the operation. Witnesses report dozens of individuals were detained, including children.
Ruby Mendoza, from the immigration activist group PODER, described a chaotic scene.
“Ice agents, police, FBI, DEA stormed into the space with force and intimidation,” she said. “And in that moment, families were torn apart. I saw the confusion in people's faces. The panic, the heartbreak. Loved ones detained without warning, without explanation.”
ACLU of Idaho Director Leo Morales also condemned the operation.
“The government came in full force, military style helicopters, drones and arrested and handcuffed everyone again, including children. No person, no Idahoan, no American should ever accept whenever a government does this to its own people,” he said.
Lawyer Nikki Ramirez Smith arrived at the raid on Sunday as arrests were being made.
“It appears that everyone that was there was detained, U.S. citizen or not. Eventually it was over an hour that we were there, we could not get answers on what happened to the children and where the children were,” said Ramirez Smith.
The ACLU reported all children were released, but many did not know where their parents were transported.
