Idaho police could arrest immigrants without legal status in proposed law to mirror Texas
Immigrants living in Idaho without legal status could be arrested and charged by local law enforcement, a new bill proposes, which would give local officials authority in an area that has historically been left to federal authorities.
Introduced Tuesday by Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, the bill would make it a misdemeanor offense to enter or reenter the U.S. illegally. A second offense would be a felony, and the bill gives magistrate judges the power to require defendants to leave the country — equivalent to deportation.
The Idaho bill is modeled after a Texas law passed last year that gives local law enforcement authority to enforce illegal entry into the U.S. The law, which a number of other states have sought to replicate, represents a sea change in immigration enforcement by giving states authority to enforce federal immigration regulations.
The proposal is largely the same as one that Crane brought before Idaho lawmakers last year in the final days of the 2024 legislative session. That bill overwhelmingly passed in the House, but did not make it through the Senate.
Crane said at a committee hearing Tuesday that he contacted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about the bill, and asked him whether he suggested any changes, given the law’s legal challenges. It has been temporarily blocked as it works its way through the courts.
Paxton recommended adding a severability clause, Crane said, which allows portions of the law to remain in place if others are stricken by a judge.
“Other than that, it’s fantastic legislation,” Crane said Paxton told him. “It being tied up in the courts is a political thing. It’s enforceable, it’s constitutional, and it’s going to be upheld.”
The Idaho bill, like the Texas law, is likely to face legal challenges, as critics suggest that it encroaches on federal authority for local governments to enforce immigration laws.
Geoffrey Heeren, a University of Idaho law professor who specializes in immigration, told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday that the bill is likely to prompt costly litigation and has little chance of passing constitutional muster.
The most remarkable provision of the bill essentially gives state judges the authority to issue deportation orders, he said in a phone interview.
“That is something that really flies in the face of 150 years or so of case law saying that that is an exclusive federal power,” Heeren said. He added that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has many judges appointed by Republican presidents, deemed Texas’ law unlikely to succeed.
“Even a middle-of-the-road 5th Circuit panel agreed that this type of state action is in fundamental conflict with federal power and is likely unconstitutional,” Heeren said.
Democratic lawmakers at Tuesday’s hearing appeared to agree.
“This clearly violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution,” said Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, referring to how federal authority supersedes that of a state.
Texas passed its law as conservative-led states have increasingly fixated on migration levels across the U.S.-Mexico border, which many Republican officials have dubbed an “invasion.” Idaho Gov. Brad Little has sent Idaho state troopers around 1,000 miles to the southern border four times in the past three years, and has himself visited.
President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next week, campaigned on promises of mass deportations after he used his hold over the Republican Party to block a wide-ranging border security bill last spring.
Are Idaho police involved in immigration laws now?
Law enforcement agencies in the Treasure Valley cannot presently enforce immigration laws, but they do work with federal officials, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, if a person detained lacks legal status, according to spokespeople for several area police departments.
“If we have arrested an undocumented immigrant for a felony crime, then yes, we may contact (federal immigration officials),” Jordan Robinson, a Meridian Police Department spokesperson, told the Statesman by email. “If it is a misdemeanor, then no, because we understand ICE rarely takes action on undocumented immigrants involved in misdemeanor crimes. We cooperate with ICE just like we would any other federal agency that is operating in our area.”
Boise Police Department policy notes that officers who have already arrested a suspect and believe they may have criminally violated immigration laws can notify federal authorities, but are encouraged to forgo detentions for misdemeanor immigration crimes.
Carmen Boeger, spokesperson for the Nampa Police Department, told the Statesman that Canyon County jail staff works with immigration officials when appropriate.
Likewise, the Ada County Jail also works with ICE once a suspect’s local charges are resolved, said Deputy Lauren Montague, spokesperson for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 11:09 AM.
