A worksite enforcement operation Tuesday at the Delta Downs Racetrack in Vinton, Louisiana, led to the detention of over 80 illegal immigrants.
The multi-agency effort was conducted under the authority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Border Patrol, Louisiana State Police, FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office (CPSO).
According to Eric DeLaune, Special Agent in Charge for ICE HSI New Orleans, the operation had both primary and secondary goals: to enforce immigration violations and to uncover related offenses such as money laundering and document fraud.
Among those arrested during the raid was Enrique Gonzalez Moreno, an alien with two prior convictions for driving while intoxicated and cocaine possession. Moreno had entered the country illegally on four separate occasions.
The Louisiana horse racing community has been reluctant to accept the raids as a new reality for the industry. “They shut down the highway, buttoned down the place, and had an ICE raid. That’s what we’re dealing with,” said Ed Fenasci, Executive Director of the Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA). Other representatives voiced concern over the effects the raid might have on the already shrinking labor pool.
The HBPA was among several interest groups that had temporarily succeeded in reversing the Trump administration’s strategy of worksite raids in favor of the American Business Immigration Coalition’s preference for “targeted enforcement,” and National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback presumably authorized his organization to share praise of this victory on its social media channels.
That reversal has itself now been reversed, and the impact, it would seem, was immediate. Hamelback has contacted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) to lobby for insulation from the raids.
Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel & Casino, the site of the raid, has an interesting history. Founded in 1973 by Lee Berwick, it initially focused on Quarter Horse racing. That trajectory changed significantly in the 1990s when developer Shawn Scott acquired it for $10 million. Following changes to local laws, Scott sold Delta Downs to the Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corporation for over $100 million.
Boyd Gaming, which subsequently invested over $120 million in improvements, stated through its Vice President of Corporate Communications, David Strow, that the 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.” This statement likely refers to front-side employees, as backstretch workers are typically employed by individual horsemen rather than the track itself.