Immigration raid at Louisiana racetrack ends with more than 80 arrests

NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested upward of 80 people unlawfully in the country during a raid at a southwest Louisiana racetrack, the agency announced Tuesday.

ICE said it raided the Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel and Casino in Calcasieu Parish on Monday alongside other state and federal agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Border Patrol. The raid angered one racehorse industry group and comes at a time when the Trump administration is pursuing more arrests.

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and the main architect of Trump's immigration policies, has pushed ICE to aim for at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term.

ICE said authorities had ''received intelligence'' that businesses operating at the racetrack's stables employed ''unauthorized workers'' who were then targeted in the raid.

Of the dozens of workers detained during the raid, ''at least two'' had prior criminal records, according to the agency.

''These enforcement operations aim to disrupt illegal employment networks that threaten the integrity of our labor systems, put American jobs at risk and create pathways for exploitation within critical sectors of our economy,'' said Steven Stavinoha, U.S. Customs and Border Protection director of field operations in New Orleans, in a written statement.

But some racing industry leaders were livid.

''To come in and take that many workers away and leave the horse racing operation stranded and without workers is unacceptable,'' said Peter Ecabert, general counsel for the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents 29,000 thoroughbred racehorse owners and trainers, including at Delta Downs.

''If they (ICE) were willing to come in and try and work with us, we are willing to make sure things are done in an orderly way," Ecabert added. "But what they have done here leaves everyone in a bad situation.''

Groomers and other stable workers are essential and allow horses to receive round-the-clock skilled care, Ecabert said, noting that the work is grueling and it can be very difficult to find people willing to do the job.

David Strow, a spokesperson for the racetrack's owner, Boyd Gaming Corporation, said that the company ''complies fully'' with federal labor laws and that ''no Delta Downs team members were involved.''

''We will cooperate with law enforcement as requested," he added in an emailed statement.

In the past few weeks, ICE has engaged in other large-scale raids across Louisiana. On May 27, the agency raided a federally funded flood-reduction project in New Orleans and reported arresting 15 Central American workers. And the agency said it arrested 10 Chinese nationals working at massage parlors in Baton Rouge during a June 11 raid.

Rachel Taber, an organizer with the Louisiana-based immigrant rights group Unión Migrante, criticized the raids as harmful and hypocritical.

''Our economy runs on immigrants,'' Taber said. ''And when we let ourselves be divided by racial hatred, our economy for everyone suffers.''

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.