Feds zip-tied 14-year-old girl in Idaho raid, raising questions about ICE tactics

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Wilder, Idaho — When Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue described the October raid connected a fashionable assemblage equine racing venue here, helium hailed the detention of 105 undocumented immigrants and flatly rejected allegations that agents utilized zip ties to restrain immoderate of the dozens of children present.

Then helium was presented with photographic evidence. Images obtained by CBS News look to amusement the zip ties and bruised wrists of Anabel Romero's 14-year-old girl SueHey, a U.S. national who was tending to her 6- and 8-year-old siblings erstwhile the agents descended connected the assemblage successful military-style cogwheel and herded them into a confined area.

"God bless her. I'm atrocious she went done that," said Donahue, a self-proclaimed cowboy who participated successful the raid connected horseback. "But instrumentality enforcement is not evil due to the fact that we contained everybody and detained them until we sorted it out. That's not evil."

Mistreatment of children during a militarized constabulary enactment that progressive armored vehicles and flashbang grenades has sparked caller questions astir tactics being employed nationwide successful the sanction of the Trump administration's question of migration sweeps. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a national civilian rights suit highlighting the mistreatment of families attending the play recreation lawsuit astatine La Catedral Arena, galore of whom were American citizens of Hispanic descent.

The incidental successful this tiny cultivation assemblage astir an hr extracurricular of Boise has mostly been overshadowed successful the nationalist headlines by the migration surge successful Minnesota, wherever the tactics utilized by national migration agents connected children person attracted wide scrutiny. In 1 instance, a household alleged that agents deployed tear state that landed nether a car with six children inside. One viral representation showed 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was wearing a chapeau with bunny ears and carrying a Spiderman backpack arsenic helium was being detained.

But the ACLU argues the Idaho raid signals a frightening normalization of harsh and sometimes convulsive enactment by national instrumentality enforcement successful the beingness of children. Those incidents, the suit alleges, volition permission carnal and affectional scars.

"They person done agelong lasting harm to children," said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, the ACLU's lawman task manager connected policing. "At this moment, erstwhile the United States Congress is confronted with a question of however to reign successful ICE…the reply is they request to reign successful ICE to support our children."

The medication denied that children astatine the Idaho equine way were ever zip-tied. A Homeland Security spokesperson told CBS News those claims were a "conspiracy theory."

But those who were temporarily detained archer a antithetic story. In an exclusive interrogation with CBS News, 14-year-old SueHey described the infinitesimal instrumentality enforcement officers — who she said refused to place the agencies they worked for — herded her onto the racetrack with hundreds of different detainees and, she says, zip-tied her hands.

"I'm conscionable similar determination crying, similar I'm struggling to breathe," she said. "I can't adjacent get the words out."

Her mother, who says she, too, was bound with integrative zip ties, could not clasp oregon console her daughter.

"I can't clasp her due to the fact that you guys won't fto maine go," Romero recalled telling the agents. "I'm like, she's lone 14."

Agents descend connected recreation grounds

For spectators attending the equine races past fall, the archetypal motion thing was amiss was a chopper thudding overhead, followed by 5 armored cars rumbling in. Cellphone video obtained by CBS News shows the infinitesimal 200 officers past swarmed the property. Some children reported having guns pointed astatine them, portion others described rubber bullets whizzing implicit their heads.

The suit alleges agents smashed car windows wherever children had taken refuge from a chilly rain. One 8-year-old lad appeared connected a section quality study and described however helium had to prime tiny shards of solid retired of his mouth.

Juana Rodriguez was bound for hours arsenic her 3-year aged lad cried and squirmed, according to the ACLU suit that was filed connected behalf of 3 Latino families. The authorities connected country dismissed her pleas to clasp her son, alternatively instructing him to clasp onto his mother's pocket, which they had turned wrong out, the suit said.

"As a parent, thing is much heartbreaking than proceeding your kid outcry retired successful fearfulness and being told you cannot clasp oregon comfortableness them," Rodriguez said successful a connection provided to CBS News by the ACLU. "I americium a arrogant U.S. citizen, and I didn't bash thing wrong."

The suit alleges aggregate minors were restrained with the hard integrative cuffs, and galore of them were near with welts and bruises connected their wrists. While the FBI tract bureau successful Boise initially said successful a connection that claims of children being zip-tied were "completely false," officials determination aboriginal amended that assertion, telling reporters that nary "young" children were zip-tied. Later, the Caldwell Police Department, which participated successful the raid, issued a statement acknowledging that minors had been zip-tied.

In summation to her 14-year-old daughter, Romero attended the lawsuit with her 2 younger children, who were not zip tied. All were U.S. citizens. She provided CBS News with a elaborate statement of their attraction by instrumentality enforcement.

Romero said she and her children were enjoying the family-friendly lawsuit which included escaped raffles, vendors selling toys for kids and accepted Mexican food. Then a achromatic military-style chopper swooped successful debased implicit the field. Soon, she said, determination was pandemonium.

"All of a abrupt I conscionable spot radical moving and screaming," Romero said, describing agents successful afloat tactical cogwheel pointing guns. She said she hid successful a equine stall arsenic her caput went instantly to the information of her 3 children, who were sheltering from a passing rainfall ablution successful the household truck. She called and told them to enactment successful the vehicle. Agents successful tactical cogwheel came searching done the equine stalls, 1 by one. She said the equipped men threatened her erstwhile she asked what bureau they were with.

"All I'm asking is for clarification, who are you and wherefore americium I being detained," recalled Romero, who said the men responded: "I'm gonna [expletive] stroke your caput off"

"They kicked me, they punched me, they stepped connected me,"she said.

SueHey described to CBS News what she saw next: national agents successful subject apparel "running around, opening car doors, and yelling astatine radical to get onto the track." She looked implicit to spot if her young siblings were OK erstwhile 2 men she thought were "soldiers" opened the motortruck door. They ordered her retired of the vehicle, but fearful of what mightiness hap to her member and sister, SueHey crouched successful place. The instrumentality enforcement officers forcibly pulled her retired of the truck, she said. She said she saw the officers attack the backmost doorway of the motortruck wherever her siblings Alfredo, 6, and NeVaeh, 8, were huddled.

"I was brave and I opened the doorway due to the fact that I wanted to support my sister," 6-year-old Alfredo told CBS News.

SueHey said she broke distant from the agents to marque definite she would not beryllium separated from her siblings. By past the officers were ordering the 3 kids to determination to the racetrack, wherever officers had detained a ample radical of people.

At the aforesaid time, agents guided Romero to the track, her hands zip-tied down her back. She reunited with her children, but the ordeal was acold from over. Soon, she said, the agents moved successful to zip-tie SueHey. Romero said she protested, telling the officers repeatedly that the miss was lone 14 years old. She says they forced the girl's hands down her back. Romero begged them to restrain SueHey successful beforehand instead, hoping it would beryllium little painful. She says the officers agreed.

Several hours later, ICE agents determined they were U.S. citizens. Romero says she was grilled astir her children, who person antithetic past names than her.

"I didn't cognize I needed to transportation their commencement certificates around," she said.

Romero said their hands were yet untied and they were yet released. Photos amusement what look to beryllium heavy bruises marked SueHey's wrists. The carnal wounds volition heal, Romero said, but the intelligence toll and the shattered spot volition not dissipate immoderate clip soon.

"My parents, they came implicit present [from Mexico] to springiness america a amended life," she told CBS News. "That day, I felt similar our state was taken distant from us."

Gambling assertion triggered raid

In Idaho, questions inactive stay astir what prompted the raid.

Sheriff Donahue said the nonsubjective was to instrumentality down what was suspected to beryllium an amerciable gambling cognition astatine the racetrack. The FBI had obtained a national transgression warrant to apprehension 5 radical suspected of moving the unlicensed operation.

Canyon County, Idaho, Sheriff Kieran Donahue

But astatine the scene, agents arrived with a monolithic amusement of force, including representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Witnesses told CBS News the agents acceptable astir rounding up hundreds of mostly Latino attendees — including dozens of children — to find whether they were successful the United States legally.

According to the ACLU complaint, instrumentality enforcement "conspired to maltreatment a transgression hunt warrant arsenic screen to spell sportfishing for migration arrests astatine an lawsuit wherever they knew they would brushwood a ample fig of Latino individuals."

After being detained, attendees were questioned astir their ineligible presumption and directed to amusement documentation, according to the lawsuit. By the clip instrumentality enforcement concluded, 105 attendees were determined to beryllium undocumented immigrants and moved to adjacent detention facilities for ineligible disposition. But immoderate 375 others, each of whom were either U.S. citizens oregon lawful residents, were released aft they were capable to beryllium they were successful the United States legally.

Nikki Ramirez-Smith, a section migration lawyer who came to the scene, said she believes authorities misjudged the event, and noted that astir of the undocumented individuals had been surviving successful the United States for decades and had no transgression history.

"My sentiment is they didn't cognize that astir of the radical determination were American citizens," Ramirez said. "I deliberation instrumentality enforcement misjudged it due to the fact that the lawsuit is successful Spanish."

In his interrogation with CBS News, Sheriff Donahue disputed allegations that the transgression warrant for amerciable gambling was efficaciously a Trojan equine for an migration dragnet. He said the cognition was an FBI inaugural 4 years successful the making and helium invited ICE to travel along. He said cartel enactment was the superior nonsubjective of the large-scale operation, with migration enforcement being "secondary oregon tertiary."

"We knew determination was cartel engagement successful this operation," the sheriff said. "We knew that to beryllium true. [It's] wherefore we went in."

Four months aft the raid, the lone transgression charges filed progressive the 5 individuals arrested for unlicensed gambling.

Meanwhile, according to the ACLU's complaint, the intelligence and affectional fallout from the raid runs heavy for the children who experienced the violent, chaotic episode. Three-year aged Y.R., 1 of the plaintiffs identified by their initials, is acrophobic of the police, according to his mother. A 15-year old, identified arsenic A.A., reports having recurring nightmares of being detained astatine gunpoint.

"The lasting fearfulness and affectional distress is widespread," the ailment says.

Donahue acknowledged the raid had severed ties betwixt section instrumentality enforcement and Idaho's Latino community. Romero agreed, saying the cognition had breached the spot that had been built implicit generations.

SueHey said she would present deliberation doubly astir calling 911 successful an emergency.

"How are they gonna dainty maine adjacent though I'm a U.S. citizen, adjacent if I'm not doing thing wrong, adjacent if I'm conscionable reporting a crime?" she said. "How are they gonna dainty me?"

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