Tiny pro-Trump Idaho town 'nearly destroyed' by ICE raid: 'What in the world is going on?' [View all]

Source: Raw Story

February 9, 2026 12:39PM ET


Residents of the tiny Idaho town of Wilder are waiting for the next shoe to drop after federal agents descended on the community in mid-October and arrested more than 100 Hispanic locals at an unlicensed race track that had long been a part of the community, according to a report.

Local farmers in the town, which has a population of 1,725, now face uncertainty as harvest season approaches with significantly reduced labor availability. Many Hispanic workers were detained during the operation, while others are lying low for fear of additional raids.

Wilder residents, living in an area where 91 percent of voters supported Trump in 2024, believed their remote location would shield them from the aggressive immigration enforcement operations affecting larger cities, the New York Times reported. That assumption proved wildly incorrect. The October raid on La Catedral Arena, a horse racetrack west of town, resulted in at least 75 deportations to date.

Second-generation farmer Chris Gross expressed concern about community viability. "We rely on Hispanic labor," he said. "Nobody thought something like this could happen here."

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/ice-farmers-workers/