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Over 80 illegals busted at Louisiana racetrack, industry leaders NOT happy

June 20, 2025 | | Print Article

The arrest of over 80 illegal aliens at a Louisiana racetrack Monday prompted calls for a crackdown on the businesses that hired them.

The arrests at the Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel and Casino in Calcasieu Parish occurred after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “received intelligence” that businesses operating in the racetrack’s stables were employing “unauthorized workers,” an ICE spokesperson told the Associated Press.

Among those arrested were “at least two” illegal aliens with criminal records.

“Those arrested included Enrique Gonzalez Moreno, 36, from Mexico, who ICE said has illegally entered the U.S. four times,” according to the Louisiana Illuminator. “He has reportedly been convicted twice for driving under the influence, once for cocaine possession and once for illegal reentry.”

“ICE also took an unnamed 40-year-old man from Mexico into custody who the agency said has previously been arrested for criminal conspiracy, aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon, sexual battery and video voyeurism,” the report continued.

An ICE official told the Illuminator that the agency is also seeking to determine whether other criminal activities were occurring at the racetrack, including labor exploitation.

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“Oftentimes, when we’re conducting these worksite enforcement operations, we uncover other forms of criminal conduct such as document and benefit fraud, money laundering and human trafficking,” the official said.

Racing industry leaders were reportedly livid at the arrests.

“To come in and take that many workers away and leave the horse racing operation stranded and without workers is unacceptable,” National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association general counsel Peter Ecabert whined to the AP.

“If they were willing to come in and try and work with us, we are willing to make sure things are done in an orderly way. But what they have done here leaves everyone in a bad situation,” he added.

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The public, meanwhile, wondered why the owners of the racetrack businesses who’d hired the illegals weren’t also being hauled off in cuffs.

Look:

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Famous racehorse trainer Dale Romans told USA Today that he, for his part, hopes the Trump administration eventually offers a “common sense path” for workers to return to the stables.

“If we couldn’t have an immigrant workforce on the backside, I don’t know how horse racing exists,” he said. “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,” he added.

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Also speaking with USA Today, Ecabert argued that illegals are simply needed because Americans won’t work race track jobs.

“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,” he said.

“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,” he added.

Vivek Saxena
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