About 200 local, state and federal law enforcement officers helped execute a raid on an alleged illegal horserace gambling operation in Wilder, Idaho, on Oct. 19, 2025. (Photo courtesy of ACLU of Idaho)
A community’s first responsibility is to keep its children safe. Every young person deserves the chance to learn, to play, and to trust that the adults around them are looking out for their wellbeing. When that promise is broken, the consequences echo far beyond childhood. Trauma caused by abuse, instability, and violence can alter a young person’s development and health for decades to come. And yet, time and again, children are put in harm’s way by the very people and systems that are supposed to protect them.
Those consequences aren’t hypothetical. Last week in the small farming town of Wilder, a government raid showed a shocking disregard for the safety of everyone present, especially the children. Witnesses report agents zip-tied young people and adults. Children watched their parents taken away without explanation. Families were separated in a matter of minutes. What should have been an ordinary afternoon is now a traumatic memory many will carry for the rest of their lives…