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ICE raid track sends shockwaves across racing: 'There's no hiding'
ICE raid track sends shockwaves across racing: 'There's no hiding'

The Herald Scotland

timean hour ago

  • Politics
  • The Herald Scotland

ICE raid track sends shockwaves across racing: 'There's no hiding'

And now, perhaps predictably, there's reason for horse racing to be nervous that it's about to have a major problem on its hands. An ICE raid Tuesday morning at Delta Downs in Vinton, Louisiana, where more than 80 backstretch workers were reportedly detained, should be a wake-up call for an industry that would simply not be able to function without a workforce of grooms and hotwalkers and stall cleaners who are, by some credible estimates, roughly 75% immigrants. They come from places like Venezuela, Panama, Colombia and Mexico, working low-wage jobs but filling indispensable roles, caring round-the-clock for animals worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars. Most of these workers at the glamorous tracks like Churchill Downs and Saratoga are here on H-2B visas that the prominent and well-resourced barns manage to secure for them, allowing them to travel from one race meet to the next. Even in the best of times, though, it can be a tricky system to navigate with just 66,000 issued each year by the U.S. government, long processing times and an intricate renewal mechanism. And, of course, these are not the best of times. In a climate where immigrant construction workers are getting systematically arrested in Home Depot parking lots, the only thing that would prevent racetracks from being a big, fat target for ICE are the whims of a president. "We're out in the middle of the open," Velie said. "There's no hiding. You're in the middle of a town and they can surround you and come round up a lot of people at once." 'Everybody's nervous' Ever since it became clear during the first weeks of the current Trump Administration that its posture toward deportations would be more aggressive than in his first term, it has been horse racing's barely spoken but impossible-to-ignore fear, lingering in the background every day on the backside. "Everybody's nervous about it," prominent trainer Dale Romans told reporters during a Kentucky Derby-week news conference set up to specifically address the threat posed by a potential ICE raid at a racetrack. "If we couldn't have an immigrant workforce on the backside, I don't know how horse racing exists. We need a common sense path to long-term legalization. We're not talking citizenship, just some kind of work permit. "The perfect scenario is we get an amnesty program that leads to a work permit. If you're vetted, if you're proven not to be a criminal, you pay your taxes, you are sponsored by an employer, you have a right to work in the United States. That's all we're asking for." It is, of course, a difficult topic to get most people to address. Not just because trainers or owners are reticent to draw undue attention to themselves but because of the clear political implications: The racetrack is, by and large, an unabashedly Republican-leaning ecosystem. Many prominent owners and racetrack executives have direct lines to Trump himself. And that's why it seemed like there was relief last week when the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance exempting the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants from these raids due to the harm being inflicted on those businesses. Though horse racing wasn't specifically mentioned, it clearly falls into the same category. Then, a couple days later, the White House reversed course and decided to resume those raids. It didn't take long for a racetrack to be on the hit list. "The head of the New York Racing Association, Marc Holliday, is business partners with (Trump's son-in-law) Jared Kushner, so he had pretty strong assurances there would be some type of executive action protecting the horsemen and agriculture workers," Velie said. "But I think there's a lot of competing factions inside the administration battling over this." Sweeping up 'folks that are constantly caring for the horses' Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, the issue of whether horse racing should be relying on cheap immigrant labor is fair game for critique. Steve Asmussen, the all-time winningest trainer in North America, earlier this month finally settled a 10-year-old court case with the Department of Labor over hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime and back pay. Over the years, whenever wages and living conditions of backstretch workers have been subject to media scrutiny, it's rarely made the industry look good. It's a tough way to make a living. But in the end, for thousands of people who desperately need it, it is a living. And their symbiotic relationship with horses who need to be fed and taken care of isn't just a human story. One of the biggest concerns coming out of any potential racetrack raid is what happens to the horses while their grooms are being arrested. "The problem is that the kind of work the people on the backside, the grooms and hotwalkers, those folks that are constantly caring for the horses and making sure they're maintained and healthy, that job is 24-7 just a real difficult job," said Peter Ecabert, the general counsel for the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "It's hard to get anyone to do that job, and we depend a lot on immigrants and they're hard-working and good people. Obviously there are a couple that may have run afoul of the legal system, and in those cases, especially if there's a violent situation we don't want them around either. We'd work with ICE in any way possible to make sure those people are taken into custody and transported back after their due process hearing. But as far as an unannounced raid on the backside of racetracks, that just puts all of us in a real difficult situation and puts the horses at risk." Chelsea Perez, the senior program manger of equine protection at Humane World for Animals, told USA TODAY Sports that it was critical for any law enforcement action to include a process where the safety and well-being of the horses is secured. "Horses are large, easily frightened animals who can suffer serious injury or injure others when not properly handled," she said. "The development of appropriate protocols is key to effective emergency response for both law enforcement agencies and equine facility managers." Meanwhile, there is a school of thought among those USA TODAY Sports has spoken with that a racetrack in Louisiana was particularly vulnerable to an ICE raid for a few reasons, including the fact that racing in the state is operating under a court injunction preventing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) rules from being enforced. A HISA spokesperson declined comment, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association did not answer a request for comment. Delta Downs is also currently running its quarter horse meet, where there would be stronger suspicion about workers without visas being present than at higher-profile Thoroughbred tracks. Still, there's a potential chilling effect for the whole industry now that an ICE raid has taken place at a racetrack, particularly given the lack of consistent message from the Trump Administration. "There is a lot of tension on the backside," Ecabert said. "People are concerned, obviously, that there's going to be (another) raid and a lot of apprehensive people for sure." Of course, this is what many of those owners and trainers voted for - even if they didn't realize it. "I got calls from tracks all over the country (the next day), and every one of them was saying the same thing: 'If it happens there, it can happen here. What's our plan?' Velie said. "The long-term plan is to get your workforce on to stable visas, but in the short term, we're stuck."

ICE raids upend Latino life in Orange County as climate of fear spreads
ICE raids upend Latino life in Orange County as climate of fear spreads

Los Angeles Times

time5 hours ago

  • Politics
  • Los Angeles Times

ICE raids upend Latino life in Orange County as climate of fear spreads

A handful of shoppers strolled through the sparsely populated aisles of the Anaheim Indoor Marketplace on a recent afternoon, a desolate scene in the wake of ICE raids in Orange County and across Southern California. Having served to illustrate Anaheim's changing demographics in the past, O.C.'s largest indoor swap meet now tells a somber story. Once home to more than 200 businesses under one roof that sold everything from jewelry to clothing, many stands have shuttered in the past week — and aren't coming back, according to shopkeepers that remain. 'Hopefully, things will get better soon,' said one vendor who asked to stay anonymous out of fear, even though they are a U.S. citizen. 'But right now, it seems like [ICE] is approaching anyone who is Latino.' Shopkeepers declined on-the-record interviews, but told the same story of fretting over making rent for their stalls, as business is in a freefall. On Father's Day weekend, the crowds disappeared. Scheduled music and cultural performances at the Anaheim Indoor Marketplace were canceled. Videos of masked federal agents arresting a man on June 12 at Pearson Park in Anaheim went viral on social media and amplified fears racial profiling. Prompted by the images, an Anaheim council member spoke to U.S. citizen who was stopped at the park by the agents who interrogated him about his immigration status. Sensing a climate of fear, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken made a personal plea during the Anaheim City Council meeting on June 10. 'If you have a neighbor that is afraid to go to the grocery store to get food or necessities for their families, check in on them,' Aitken said. 'If you have a mother in your community that maybe is afraid to take her kids to camp or drop them off at school, perhaps offer a ride.' 'We need to stick together in these uncertain times,' she added. The raids are not only affecting businesses in Latino neighborhoods in O.C., but workers, too. Five jornaleros, or day laborers, sat in the shade next to a Home Depot in Anaheim as they awaited work. 'Are you la migra,' one asked a TimesOC reporter wearing a press badge, referring to ICE. The men expressed a fatalistic view as the pool of day laborers has dried up since the ICE raids arrived earlier this month, comparing them to death. 'If they take us, ni modo,' one day laborer said. 'Oh well.' He pointed up toward the sky before saying, 'With God, we will fortify ourselves.' Before the raids, dozens of day laborers congregated in different pockets of the vast parking lot, the men said. But that's no longer the case. 'The targeting of the most vulnerable people, either waiting on street corners or outside stores like Home Depot and Lowe's increases fears,' said Palmira Figueroa, a spokesperson for the National Day Laborers Organizing Network. 'People are staying home, even though that is not sustainable.' The five laborers, who had searched for work in Anaheim since 6:30 a.m. without much luck, accounted for about half of those present. 'I have a family, that's why I'm here,' a Mexican immigrant told TimesOC. 'I have to work because there's no other option.' The following morning, video surfaced of federal agents raiding the area. A witness saw day laborers running away before an unknown number of arrests were made. 'We do not have any specific knowledge,' said Mike Lyster, an Anaheim spokesperson, 'but it appears to be consistent with other federal enforcement activity that we've seen in our city.' In downtown Santa Ana, the raids have punched the city's restaurant scene in the gut. Luis Perez, a chef at Lola Gaspar and Chapter One, noted a 40% drop in sales at Lola Gaspar, a Mexico City-inspired gastrobar, even though it doesn't typically serve a working class Latino clientele. Amid a tumultuous week that saw ICE raids, protests and the deployment of the California National Guard in downtown, the back kitchen is where the impact hits hardest. 'My staff has been with me for over 10 years,' said Perez, a son of immigrants. 'It's seeing the fear in their eyes in not wanting to come to work and not wanting to leave their homes.' Two of Perez's Chapter One employees quit out of fear. 'These people are the backbone,' he said. 'I thought I'd never see this happen.' Back in Anaheim, the lunch rush at Tacos Los Güeros No. 2 was no rush at all. With tacos stuffed with choice meats at $1.80 each, the taquería usually attracts a line of patrons that coils out the front door of what once was a Carl's Jr. restaurant. Tacos Los Güeros No. 2 provided affordable meals for working class Latinos during the worst of the pandemic and the high inflation that followed. ICE raids are another matter. Most patrons trickle in and take orders to go. No more than four to six people sat down for a meal at a time in the dining area. The absence of patrons provided a clear view of a telling image through the windows. Rows of tables sat empty while a red 'Take America Back' Trump flag flapped from the backyard of a home that abuts the taquería's parking lot.

Home Depot Bid Kicks Off a Battle for $5 Billion Building-Products Company
Home Depot Bid Kicks Off a Battle for $5 Billion Building-Products Company

Wall Street Journal

time8 hours ago

  • Business
  • Wall Street Journal

Home Depot Bid Kicks Off a Battle for $5 Billion Building-Products Company

Home Depot HD -0.50%decrease; red down pointing triangle has made an offer for building-products distributor GMS GMS 10.61%increase; green up pointing triangle, kicking off a potential bidding war between the home-improvement giant and serial dealmaker Brad Jacobs, according to people familiar with the matter. The exact price Home Depot has privately discussed paying for GMS couldn't be determined.

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