BOISE, ID – Idaho law enforcement groups say they are increasingly frustrated by immigration legislation lawmakers are proposing without first seeking their input.

Idaho lawmakers announce slate of immigration bills, crafted with influential think tank 

After a slate of immigration bills had stalled in the legislative process, a Republican Senate leader on Thursday introduced some late-session new bills to address many of the same goals.

Several of the original immigration bills, drafted by a group of legislators in partnership with the national conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, faced opposition by Idaho law enforcement groups. Police and sheriff representatives told the Sun they believe immigration is under federal authorities’ purview, and largely isn’t the proper role of local law enforcement.

“There’s challenges there I think people are overlooking,” Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell said. “When you’ve got law enforcement agencies that are speaking out over and over and over it seems like this session, that you can’t just put these impossible parameters in place … they’re not listening to the people that are actually working these systems and doing it.”

What are the new bills?

Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, a Declo Republican, introduced three new immigration-related bills Thursday.

Senate Bill 1441 would:

• Require all Idaho law enforcement to enter into official agreements with federal immigration authorities through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287(g) program.

Senate Bill 1442 would:

• Require the Idaho Office for Refugees, which is managed by a private nonprofit in partnership with the federal government, to report demographic, language, health and housing data about the people the office serves.
• Prohibit the refugee office from helping any undocumented people, or “encouraging or inducing” someone to remain in the U.S. illegally.
• Require all local and county law enforcement to verify immigration status and nationality of every person arrested.

Senate Bill 1440 would:

• Create a new excise tax on money sent out of the U.S. from Idaho, with a refund for U.S. citizens.

The Senate State Affairs Committee with no discussion voted to introduce the three draft bills by Anthon. The introduction allows the legislation to return to committee for public hearings.

Lawmakers are nearing the expected end of the 2026 legislative session — originally targeted for March 27, but is likely to run longer.

Anthon told the Idaho Capital Sun on Thursday he intends to push for the immigration bills to advance before the end of the session.

He said the excise tax bill introduction was to get the idea out “to foster discussion” and return to the topic next session.

Anthon says 287(g) bill addresses Idaho sheriffs’ concerns, but sheriffs disagree

The Idaho House of Representatives had previously passed a bill that would require all law enforcement agencies in the state to enter 287(g) agreements with ICE. However, the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police, and the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association all opposed the legislation.

Anthon said he worked with the sheriffs’ association to address their concerns in his new version. His changes remove a requirement that agencies not only participate in the 287(g) program, but also any future programs.

His new bill also adds that participation would be required “only to the extent that the necessary resources for participation are reasonably available to the law enforcement agency.” The prior version required all agencies to participate.

Anthon’s new bill also provides a more detailed exemption from participation, if there is a “specific, written finding of fact” by the county commissioners or city council that entering an agreement would hinder the agency’s ability to provide necessary services.

Andy Creech, Payette County sheriff and legislative chair of the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, said the group still opposes the new bill.

“We don’t believe that it should require it,” Creech told the Sun. “It’s already an option that sheriffs can already take advantage of right now, and it should be the sheriffs’ discretion whether they do or they don’t, but requiring us to apply for those is something that we’re just not willing to support.”

He said county sheriffs’ and jail staff across the state are already working with ICE in different ways, and the 287(g) program, which requires training with federal immigration officers, isn’t always the best way.

“We already work with ICE,” Creech said. “This law is not a law that’s needed. We’re already doing it.”

Senate Bill 1442 combines three bills that failed to advance

SB 1442 is an amalgamation of proposals from SB 1318 to audit the refugee resettlement office, HB 764 to prohibit entities from helping undocumented people, and HB 660 to require all police and sheriff’s deputies to verify immigration status and nationality of all arrested individuals.

HB 660 sponsor, Fernwood Republican Dale Hawkins previously said he hadn’t spoken to local law enforcement in crafting the legislation.

There are some minor changes to the other bills. However, the requirements around law enforcement verifying nationality and immigration status of each arrested person are the same.

Lovell, of the Fraternal Order of Police, and Creech of the sheriffs’ association, both say that it doesn’t reflect the reality of what local law enforcement can do.

“People think we can just poke that stuff into a computer and it’s going to spit out accurate information,” Lovell said. “… that’s not how it works.”

Creech said in the jails, that staff has access to some information, but not all of it. He countered testimony from lawmakers who said that local law enforcement should have access to Department of Homeland Security databases.

“We don’t have access to any of those databases,” Creech said. “That’s the federal government’s duty and job.”

Law enforcement say Idaho’s officers already cooperate with ICE

Creech and Lovell said law enforcement groups are willing to work with legislators to make bills more workable, but are largely opposed to mandating more involvement with immigration enforcement beyond what officers are already doing.

“We don’t need a law to tell us to go out and work with ICE,” Creech said. “We’re working with ICE, and we don’t have the manpower to go out and do ICE’s job. That’s ICE’s job. So we really just want the relationship that we’ve had, and we have had for decades, where we work with ICE, we assist ICE, but they do their job and we do ours.”

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.