Idaho Homeowner Accused of Calling ICE on Contractors

Residents in Post Falls, Idaho, are up in arms after a homeowner was accused of calling ICE on a crew that was hired to do some work in his home. However, it’s unclear where the call to the controversial agency came from, creating a lot of turmoil in the small town.

The incident began on Aug. 15, 2026. That’s when KTVB7 said that immigration authorities showed up at a residential construction site, arresting two of Aaron Mote’s longtime employees. Mote, who owns Direct Siding Idaho, opened up to the outlet about what happened, sharing his suspicions about what really went down.

According to him, the homeowner made an off-color remark about his employees when he hired Mote’s company for the project, which is why the contractor believes that the unnamed man was behind the call. He described the incident as “heartbreaking.”

The two men who were removed from the jobsite have been deported to Honduras. Now, Mote is speaking out about the impact the situation has had.

Mote Says One of His Team Members Told Him What Happened

The contractor wasn’t on the job that August day when ICE showed up at the Westwind Drive property. Instead, he says that he was alerted to the situation when one of his other team members called him in tears to explain what was going on. “It was just heartbreaking to hear,” he said.

As far as Mote knows, the men he hired were allowed to work in the U.S. “I follow every single law required as a contractor to do my job,” Mote told a KTVB7 reporter. “We do not discriminate. We’re not allowed to discriminate on the basis of race or immigration status, and I’m simply always looking for the best, most qualified individual.”

The Homeowner Called the Men ‘Mexicans’ When He Hired the Crew

Mote explained to the outlet how he was initially suspicious of the homeowner because of an interaction they had early on in the renovation process. “He said, ‘We want to hire your Mexicans,'” Mote recalled. The contractor said that he politely explained the situation to the homeowner.

“They’re from Honduras originally, and they’ve been with me for six-plus years, and they’ve served over 200 residential clients for me, and a ton of apartments,” Mote continued. 

When contacted by KTVB7, the homeowner—who asked to remain anonymous—declined to be interviewed. However, people in the neighborhood don’t seem to believe him, and there is a video making the rounds on social media that shows the homeowner being confronted about his alleged role in the ICE raid.

The outlet says that the homeowner denies involvement in the clip, saying he had asked the contractor whether he had “any illegals working for him.”

According to a July 2026 report from ABC News, which covered the fiscal year that began in October 2025, this story isn’t exactly an unusual one. ICE had reportedly removed 356,389 people as of July 21, 2026. The outlet says that the Trump administration’s goal was to make 2,000 arrests per day, highlighting how much higher the deportation figures were expected to go.