Idaho eyes Texas-style immigration law allowing migrant arrests
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The Idaho Capitol building in Boise. Photo: Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Idaho is seeking to join Texas with a proposed bill that would allow local police to check people's immigration and make it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to enter the state.
Why it matters: GOP-led states are expected to see legislation allowing them to enforce federal immigration law amid a friendly incoming Trump administration despite concerns over constitutionality.
The big picture: The new state laws could assist Trump with his mass deportation plan that would need state and local law enforcement agencies to assist with raids and roundups.
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says it will challenge those state laws and proposals, which will likely end up in the Supreme Court.
Zoom in: Republican Idaho State Rep. Jaron Crane introduced legislation Tuesday that mirrors a Texas law, creating a new crime called illegal entry, per the Idaho Capital Sun.
- According to the Idaho bill, immigrants living in the state without legal status could be arrested and charged by local law enforcement.
- A first encounter would result in a misdemeanor charge, and a second could lead to a felony charge and deportation.
Context: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in 2023 that authorizes state officials to arrest and seek the deportation of migrants who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without legal authorization.
- The legislation would make it a state misdemeanor to illegally cross the border and a second-degree felony for illegal re-entry, with punishments ranging from 180 days in jail to 20 years in prison.
- It would also permit a judge to order an undocumented person "to return to the foreign nation from which they entered."
Friction point: Critics say it is unconstitutional and could lead to racial profiling.
- The law is on hold as it faces a court challenge.
State of play: ACLU officials at its southern border affiliated chapters vowed Tuesday it would undergo legal challenges to any state immigration law that tried to enforce federal immigration statutes.
- The ACLU is actually urging other states to put up legal roadblocks to slow mass raids.
The bottom line: The Idaho and Texas efforts are previews of what's to come during the second Trump era as Republican-controlled states push the boundaries on immigration restrictions.
