“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, the ACLU’s deputy director of policing.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit after the Trump administration carried out an Idaho immigration raid that led to more than 400 spectators, including U.S. citizens and minor children, being detained for up to four hours.
In a press release, the American Civil Liberties Union recounted how, on October 19, masked law enforcement officials descended on the La Catedral arena in Wilder, Idaho, to conduct a dragnet immigration raid. Hundreds of people in the vicinity were caught in the operation; some were shoved to the ground, while others were shot with rubber bullets or struck by devices identified as “flashbang” grenades. Detainees, including parents and children, were zip-tied before being transported to a detention center, where they were reportedly kept in “inhumane conditions” until their release.
“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, the ACLU’s deputy director of policing. “From Wilder, to Minneapolis, to Chicago, the Trump administration is trampling our rights using racially biased tactics that make us all less safe. The administration can suggest that this abuse is immune from legal consequences, but it is not, and we intend to prove that in court.”
The lawsuit, filed in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties of Union, names the members of “three Latino families who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.”
Two of the named plaintiffs—Juana Rodriguez and her 3-year-old son—are identified in court documents as U.S. citizens. They say that, during the operation, police instructed Juana’s 3-year-old to hold onto her pocket, which officers then turned inside-out. He continued to hold onto her pocket, crying, for the next several hours they spent in detention.
“On October 19, I took my 3-year-old to a family-friendly event where we could eat, play, and enjoy horse races together,” Rodriguez said in a statement published to the ACLU’s website. “What happened turned our outing into a nightmare. My toddler was forced to witness an incredible amount of violence against people he loves and hear racial slurs about Latinos, experiences that no child should ever be exposed to. I’ll never forget hearing his little voice pleading with me to give him food and water for hours on end. As a parent, nothing is more heartbreaking than hearing your child cry out in fear and being told you cannot hold or comfort them.”
“I am a proud U.S. citizen, and I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “While nothing will ever undo the harm of that day, I joined this lawsuit because I know what happened to me was wrong and because no family should be treated this way again.”
The American Civil Liberties Union noted that La Catedral hosts regular horse races, which are closely associated with the area’s predominately Latino community.
“In moments like this, we ask ourselves: is this the kind of society we want?” said Leo Morales, the executive director of the ACLU of Idaho. “Those children and their mothers are traumatized for life. It is heartbreaking that federal, state, and local police turned a family-friendly event into a place of nightmares. 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.”
Sources
Idaho families sue over immigration raid that swept up hundreds, including U.S. citizens
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