© 2025 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Idaho House advances immigration enforcement bill

Two men in suits in the Idaho House of Representatives chamber.
James Dawson
/
Boise State Public Radio
House Majority Caucus Chair Jaron Crane (R-Nampa), left, is one of the sponsors of a bill that would allow Idaho cops to enforce U.S. immigration laws that cleared the House Monday, Feb. 10, 2025.

A controversial bill giving Idaho cops the ability to enforce U.S. immigration laws is heading to the state senate.

House Republicans embraced the proposal Monday morning on a party line vote. It would allow law enforcement to charge someone who’s in the country illegally, but only if they’re being detained or investigated for a separate crime.

Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa) said his bill doesn’t encourage racial profiling.

“This isn’t going after people that don’t look like us or don’t speak our language,” said Skaug. “This is going after people who are involved potentially or possibly or probably in crimes.”

He said law enforcement also wouldn’t be able to conduct raids at places of business to ask workers for their immigration documents.

House Minority Caucus Chair Todd Achilles (D-Boise) said he’s fully on-board with not “giving sanctuary” to unauthorized immigrants who commit crimes.

However, Achilles said, “We’re not going to fix America’s broken federal immigration system with a questionably constitutional state law that weaken civil rights protections and penalizes Idaho’s most productive industries.”

The first violation would be a misdemeanor with subsequent violations considered felonies. Those convicted for the new crime would be deported.

The proposal mirrors a Texas law that’s currently being held up by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“For nearly 150 years, the Supreme Court has held that the power to control immigration—the entry, admission, and removal of noncitizens—is exclusively a federal power,” wrote Chief Judge Priscilla Richman in her 2024 order blocking the law from taking effect.

Ultimately, Richman wrote the state of Texas has not “that it is likely to succeed on the merits” of its case.

Idaho’s bill now heads to the state senate for consideration.

Copyright 2025 Boise State Public Radio

I cover politics and a bit of everything else for Boise State Public Radio. Outside of public meetings, you can find me fly fishing, making cool things out of leather or watching the Seattle Mariners' latest rebuilding season.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.