ICE Raids Idaho Lawmaker's Farm [View all]

An Idaho Republican state representative has accused her own party of weaponizing federal immigration authorities against her after she publicly criticized former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, according to ace reporting from Investigate West.

State Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, a seventh-generation Idahoan and farmer, said her family’s farm was raided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just three days after a local Republican official falsely reported her to the agency. The incident, which unfolded in late January 2025, has sparked outrage among some residents and raised concerns about political intimidation in the state.

Mickelsen, who represents a district in eastern Idaho, had spoken out against Trump’s hardline stance on immigration, noting the critical role immigrant labor plays in the state’s agriculture industry. “If you think that you haven’t been touched by an illegal immigrant’s hands in some way along the production chain ... you are kidding yourself,” she said in a local news report posted to X:

https://migrantinsider.com/p/ice-raids-idaho-lawmakers-farm