United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executed a raid June 17 at Delta Downs in Vinton, La. The track is in the midst of a Quarter Horse meet.
The move surprised some as President Donald Trump had said that immigrants who worked in hospitality and agriculture had nothing to fear when it came to his administration's plans to crack down on illegal immigrants. However, the Department of Homeland Security told staff June 16 that it was changing previous guidance to not conduct raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants.
Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said that more than 100 people were detained with zip ties outside the track kitchen.
Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association executive director Ed Fenasci said that he has been hearing news second-hand, which included that ICE shut down nearby highways and used drones in search of undocumented workers.
Hamelback had hoped that the President's comments would have led to a pause in action against tracks and farms. His organization has been working with the American Business Immigration Coalition to lobby on behalf of workers.
"He's made those comments a couple of times," Hamelback said of Trump. "I guess there was something that was maybe 'reversed,' even overnight, that that pause was no longer in place. ... We've been working pretty hard on that messaging that President Trump and his administration talked about the workforce within farms, and I believe he said in hospitality, certain areas that felt as if there was a workforce that had been there for a long-standing period of time and wasn't a threat."
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that ICE and HSI field office supervisors "began learning about a likely reversal of the exemption policy Sunday after hearing from DHS leadership that the White House did not support it."
Hamelback said raids such as this are a "significant blow" to caring for horses. He reached out to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, whose Louisiana district includes Delta Downs, and Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise. Hamelback said he has heard that one rider was told to get off his horse immediately and to let it go, while some horses were left on walking wheels and tied to wall ties.
"I did stress in those emails that this kind of mass exodus from a workforce causes some significant animal welfare issues," Hamelback said.
Through the office of Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr, Johnson's office acknowledged it had been made aware of the raid.
"I think that the frustration comes from our workforce shortages without this problem are difficult enough for trainers, obviously for Thoroughbred breeding farms," he said. "It's getting more and more difficult to secure help these days, and obviously on the racetrack, we have the understanding that an individual has a license, that they've at least been vetted by a state government authority."
Boyd Gaming, which operates Delta Downs, acknowledged the situation and said in a statement: "Our company complies fully with federal labor laws, and to our knowledge, no Delta Downs team members were involved in this matter. We will cooperate with law enforcement as requested."
That statement would apply to frontside workers, while backstretch workers typically are employees of horsemen.
Last month, U.S. Representative Andy Harris (Md.) told Bloodhorse that Trump was sympathetic to the concerns of farms and tracks.
"Like a lot of industries in the United States, they are going to need foreign workers," Harris said. "Americans just aren't going to do some of the jobs. And again, they depend upon our visa program, H-2A, and H-2B visas, but we know that there's huge demand for both those programs. We just need to realize that there are jobs Americans aren't going to do, and if we have willing temporary foreign workers to come in, we should welcome them with open arms."
