WILDER, Idaho — A Jerome teenager says she watched on Facebook Live as her father and 14-year-old brother were zip-tied and detained during Sunday’s federal raid at La Catedral Arena in Wilder.
Idaho News 6 spoke with a seventeen-year-old who says she was having breakfast when she began receiving messages that immigration officers were at the racetrack. Moments later, she opened a Facebook Live and saw the chaos unfold.
WATCH: Teen recounts seeing father, brother zip-tied during federal raid in Wilder
“We entered the live and when we had entered the live, that’s when we saw people running, we saw people screaming,” the teen said. “And… his camera was faced towards my brother and my dad. They had their arms behind with the zip ties already on.”
Federal officials say the raid was part of a months-long FBI investigation into illegal gambling, but immigration agents were also on scene checking identification and detaining individuals.
The teen said she watched helplessly on social media as both her father and brother were taken into custody.
“It really hurt me because my brother is literally just a minor,” she said. “And for him to be having his hands like that, it’s just like, why? Why does he have to be like that?”
Her 14-year-old brother was released hours later, while her father remains detained and was recently moved from Mountain Home to a facility in Utah.
The teen said her 3-year-old sister continues to ask when their father will be coming home.
“We just can’t find a really good way to tell her that he’s just somewhere else,” she said. “He’s locked up, and we don’t know if we’re going to be able to get him back.”
The 17-year-old said this is something she’s always feared, but never imagined it would happen to her family.
“When I would hear about it in the news, I would just pray to God that it would not be my parents,” she said. “And hearing it happen yesterday, it really hurt me — because why my dad?”
According to federal court filings, five people are now charged with operating an illegal gambling business at La Catedral Arena.
When asked, the teen did not clarify her father’s immigration status but said he is still being held in Utah.
The individuals charged in the gambling investigation are expected to appear in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. Idaho News 6 will be in the courtroom to bring you updates.
