Teenager Allegedly Zip‑Tied During ICE Raid, Drawing Scrutiny of Enforcement Tactics

A lawsuit has been filed by three families against FBI raids at a privately owned race track in Idaho on October 2025. They alleged that unconstitutional tactics were used to restrain kids. The families were among roughly 400 people detained for hours.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in its lawsuit, highlighted the mistreatment of families attending the weekend recreation event at La Cathedral. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the three families.

The October raid came amid a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)-led probe into allegations of illegal gambling. However, the ACLU in its lawsuit claimed that only five people at the event were arrested in connection with the investigation. More than 100 others were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations.

Families alleged that the federal law enforcement agencies singled out people who appeared to be Latino, keeping adults and also children in zip ties for hours without access to food, water or washrooms. Multiple minors were restrained with the hard plastic cuffs, and many of them were left with welts and bruises on their wrists.

According to CBS, one of the attendees, Anabel Romero claimed that her 14-year-old daughter was zip-tied by the authorities. She was tending to her six and eight-year-old siblings when the agents descended on the crown in military-style gear and herded them into a confined area.

An attendee Juana Rodriguez claimed she was bound for hours as her three-year-old son cried and squirmed. The authorities allegedly dismissed her plea to hold her son.

The ACLU in the lawsuit wrote that agents smashed car windows where children had taken refuge. The FBI had a criminal search warrant for the gambling investigation, but the operation was essentially a “fishing expedition for immigration violations,” attorneys with the ACLU of Idaho wrote in the lawsuit.

“Wearing militarized gear and face coverings, they pointed guns and screamed orders at frightened families,” the ACLU wrote.

Multiple agencies took part in the raid, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, Idaho State Police, and local police and sheriff’s deputies.

Responding to the allegations, Nampa Mayor Rick Hogaboam said, “We take this matter seriously and are committed to following the legal process with integrity and professionalism.”

Speaking to CBS News, Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue said the operation was an FBI initiative four years in the making and he invited ICE to come along. He said cartel activity was the primary objective of the large-scale operation, with immigration enforcement being secondary or tertiary.

The FBI field office in Boise initially said in a statement that claims of children being zip-tied were “completely false.” However, later, they asserted that no "young" children were zip-tied.

The Caldwell Police Department, which participated in the raid, acknowledged that minors had been zip-tied.

Homeland Security spokesperson Trisha McLaughlin told CBS News in a statement that ICE did not zip tie, restrain or arrest any children.

"ICE does not zip tie or handcuff children. This is the kind of garbage rhetoric contributing to our officers facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats."