ICE raids Delta Downs in search of undocumented workers
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement has shut down all exits and entrances to Delta Downs in Vinton, Louisiana, as it conducts a raid of the track’s backstretch in search of undocumented laborers, according to officials with knowledge of the situation.
ICE officers arrived at the track mid-morning, according to the officials, and quickly barred the exits and shut down the roads connecting to the track. A number of backstretch workers were “apprehended,” according to Eric Hamelback, the chief executive officer of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.
Delta Downs is in the midst of a live racing meet for Quarter Horses, but Tuesday is a dark day at the track.
Horsemen’s officials and federal racing lobbyists have grown increasingly uneasy with the policies of the administration of President Donald Trump, as over the last two weeks, ICE has fanned out in multiple states to conduct raids of businesses where immigrants form a critical portion of the workforce.
Ed Fenasci, the executive director of the Louisiana HBPA, said on Tuesday morning that he had only heard second-hand reports so far about the raid and was eagerly trying to get more information.
“With the feds involved, there’s not much we can do or say,” Fenasci said.
On Friday, Trump appeared to walk back the aggressive policies pushed by his leading immigration advisors to raid workplaces associated with hospitality and agriculture. Industry representatives had reached out to Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to complain that many workers were not even showing up because of fears that ICE would apprehend them.
Just yesterday, the National HBPA urged its members in an email to contact their federal representatives to urge them to “work with Rollins to protect our farms, restaurants, hotels, and other industries.”
Hamelback said that he was in discussions on Tuesday morning with the American Business Immigration Coalition, a lobbying group associated with industries that rely on immigrant labor, to try to find clarity on whether the racing industry would be targeted in the future.
“This is very concerning,” Hamelback said. “Very concerning.”
Many trainers use the H-2B visa program for certain backstretch workers, but the requirements of the program are expensive and time-consuming. And there is little doubt that, at many small tracks, trainers employ undocumented workers as hotwalkers and grooms.
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