The consequences of universal E-Verify enforcement for Idaho’s agricultural economy | Opinion

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of editorials that the Statesman will publish this year on immigration, its effects on Idaho and possible solutions.

With the inauguration of President Donald Trump, Idaho Republican lawmakers seem to be racing to snag their share of the credit for cracking down on immigration, whether or not doing so will hurt the people who put them in office.

House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, warned the state’s valuable dairy operations that “they’re going to get run over” if they oppose efforts to institute universal use of E-Verify, a federal program that allows employers to check on the immigration status of their employees, as Rachel Spacek of Investigate West recently reported.

Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur D’Alene, introduced a universal E-Verify bill last session, which died without a hearing. But he told Investigate West he plans to bring it back again this year.

Passing such a bill now, without comprehensive immigration reform, would be a terrible mistake.

It’s no secret that farm operations throughout Idaho, and the rest of the country, rely heavily on the work of immigrants, many of whom are without permanent legal status in the U.S. Indeed, there are few examples of modern American agriculture working using only the domestic labor force — commodity prices just aren’t high enough to pay the wages that American workers would demand.

And the path to legal immigration in the United States today is so onerous, restrictive and backlogged, it’s virtually impossible for many people.

Cracking down on immigration without opening new paths for legal immigration could spell absolute disaster for Idaho’s agricultural sector, which contributes billions in exports to the state economy every year. This harm would fall on a vital sector of the economy even as our main export markets are likely to be harmed by retaliatory tariffs placed on our goods in response to tariffs Trump is expected to issue.

Idaho, like the rest of the country, has needed a comprehensive immigration reform solution since around the turn of the century. But Congress has proved itself fairly useless in this regard, and don’t count on that changing anytime soon.

That’s not because it’s a hard policy question.

Lots of people who immigrate to America for farm work want to earn money to send home and then return. That is a benefit for everyone, and we should open those doors as wide as we can, particularly in an economy that continues to be constrained by labor shortages.

But Idaho lawmakers don’t have the power to implement such national fixes, and many are hungry to be in the headlines by showing how xenophobic they can be.

The triumph of ideology over practicality is going to make Idahoans suffer. They’ll pay higher prices for milk, cheese and other food goods in the grocery store. Farmers and farm workers will have lower incomes, which means they’ll spend less in the rest of the economy, which could mean lower incomes for everyone.

If there’s enough effort to enforce E-Verify, it’s not hard to imagine more permanent consequences, as well.

The so-called Magic Valley Miracle was built on the prevalence of dairies in south-central Idaho. But you can run a dairy operation in Wyoming, Montana, Oregon or Washington and not face the same requirements.

If lawmakers would like Idaho to stop exporting yogurt and start exporting dairies and jobs instead, a strict E-Verfiy system is an excellent formula for doing so.

Could dairies and other agricultural operations be staffed only with American workers? Sure, if you don’t mind paying $10 for a gallon of milk.

The Legislature should do what folks in the agricultural sector are urging: Do not step up enforcement of E-Verify. The Legislature only has the capacity to do harm.

But with the increasing power of the far right in Idaho government, that’s exactly what might happen.