ACLU files class action lawsuit, alleging civil rights abuses and agressive force in Wilder immigration Raid
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a class action lawsuit following the controversial immigration raid in Wilder, Idaho, last year. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of three Latino families who are U.S. citizens or lawful residents, alleges that authorities used excessive force and violated the constitutional rights of hundreds of spectators.
According to the ACLU, the lawsuit represents the first major challenge in the second Trump administration to ICE tactics that discriminate based on ethnicity.
“Our plaintiffs were treated as less than human because ICE and their willing partners think they can disregard fundamental rights if it gets them immigration arrests,” said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, an attorney involved in the case.
Wilder Raid Background
According to federal reports, the October 19th raid was the culmination of a multi-agency federal investigation into an alleged illegal gambling and money laundering operation tied to horse racing. However, defendants represented by the ACLU of Idaho maintain that the popular racing arena has long been a place for the local Latino community to celebrate Mexican culture throughout family-friendly events.
More than 200 officers from multiple local and federal agencies are detaining approximately 400 spectators. In the wake of the raid, witnesses reported the use of aggressive tactics to detain the crowd, including reports of flashbangs thrown into occupied vehicles, the use of rubber bullets, and children being zip-tied at gunpoint.
In an initial statement to the Idaho Capital Sun, FBI spokesperson Sandra Yi Barker denied that children were zip-tied or hit with rubber bullets. However, Barker would go on to amend that statement, adding the word "young" before children.
While the Department of Homeland Security initially reported 105 arrests of "illegal aliens," immigration attorney Nikki Ramirez-Smith noted that many detainees signed voluntary departure agreements before they could consult with legal counsel.
In late November, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill intervened, ordering the release of 16 detainees. In his ruling, Winmill emphasized that all individuals on U.S. soil are entitled to due process rights, regardless of their immigration status, according to reports by KTVB in Boise.
Alleging that the raid violated the spectator's Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, the lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare the raid was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs are also pursuing damages for the emotional and physical harm allegedly inflicted during the operation.
"While nothing can undo what these families endured, we can hold those in power to account and ensure no one else has to endure this treatment in the future," said Leo Morales, executive director of the ACLU of Idaho.
