President Donald Trump’s January executive orders calling for mass deportation have been followed by legislation on the state level.
On Wednesday, immigrant rights organization Poder of Idaho denounced legislation that would allow state law enforcement to oversee detention and deportation of anyone without legal status in Idaho.
Speakers at the State Capitol rotunda denounced House Bill 83. The legislation would enable local law enforcement to detain and deport any Idahoan without legal status.
Attorney Maria Andrade spoke in the capitol rotunda. She says the bill will increase criminal penalties for immigration status cases in Idaho. “Right now, immigration law is a civil matter that only trained immigration agents enforce because civil violations don't get you sent to jail. Criminal ones do,” Andrade says.
Ruby Mendez, Poder’s co-executive director, says the bill threatens Idaho’s economy and could destabilize local communities, all while reinforcing harmful stereotypes about immigrants.
“We are essential and we know it and we recognize it. And our community will continue to prove that through our work, whether it's in the organizing work, whether it's our jobs or whether it's through our stories that we share,” Mendez says.
Mendez says Poder of Idaho aims to keep the community informed when new immigration bills are introduced.
House Bill 83 passed out of committee Wednesday morning.
