A bill that would create a new category of crime called “illegal entry” and give Idaho cops the power to enforce federal immigration law is moving forward.
The bill would allow local law enforcement to target undocumented people who are already detained or being investigated for suspected criminal activity.
“This isn't just random out there looking for folks, it's people that are involved in criminal conduct under Idaho law,” said Sen. Todd Lakey (R-Nampa) in front of the Senate State Affairs committee on Friday.
Amy Dundon, from the ACLU, disagreed.
“It's an extreme anti-immigrant bill that threatens due process in ways that are not only unconstitutional, but dangerously prone to applicability and enforcement issues,” she said while testifying against the text. “The bill would almost certainly be applied and enforced in ways that are uneven and deeply racialized.”
Sen. James Ruchti (D-Pocatello) expressed concerns over the potential broad interpretation of the law, leading to people being stopped for suspected criminal activity.
“Criminal in the United States means you've been convicted. It doesn't mean you are suspected of something,” he said.
“It just seems to me that law enforcement could use lots of reasons to detain or investigate for suspected commission of an independent crime,” Ruchti said. “All those words together just are so soft that it seems to me that it creates maybe a temptation for a law enforcement individual to profile.”
He added undocumented people were filling jobs the state couldn’t find Americans to do, and pretending otherwise was insulting.
“And it's insulting to those hard working Hispanic families that come over here and integrate themselves into our communities,” the Senator said.
Sen. Kelly Anthon (R-Rupert) pushed back, saying the country had a problem with its southern border.
“It is troubling and maybe even hurtful that every time we try to address it. We are labeled some kind of a bigot,” he said, noting he was proud to come from Minidoka, a city with a large Hispanic population.
This piece of legislation today is very finely focused on criminal conduct. And the people who are deported, and then they come back. And they do more crime. And I'm not talking about a speeding ticket. We're talking about drug crime,” Anthon added.
In the bill, a first offence would lead to a misdemeanor and a second one to a felony. It is now headed to the Senate floor for possible amendment.
