House passes bill to eliminate services for undocumented immigrants

BOISE — A bill that would eliminate nonemergency health care services and other welfare benefits for undocumented people has passed the Idaho House.

On Monday, the House voted 46-22 to advance House Bill 135, which removes many benefits, such as immunizations and food assistance for children, that had been available to undocumented people in Idaho.

The bill would allow access to only emergency services — cutting programs for pregnant women, immunizations, soup kitchens and food assistance for children younger than 18. The bill also eliminates access to some short-term shelter and food assistance programs, such as the federally funded and regulated Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and WIC, the specialized program for women, infants and children.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, argued that the legislation would dissuade noncitizens from coming to Idaho for social and medical program benefits.

“We are not doing the responsible thing by our people,” Redman said. “All of us were elected by our citizens to represent them. We need to demagnetize.”

In Idaho, undocumented people are not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare. All low-income people — including U.S. citizens — are eligible for medical care such as crisis counseling, prenatal care, postnatal care, immunizations and public health treatment of communicable diseases, as reported by the Idaho Capital Sun.

Under the bill, people without proof of legal residence would be excluded from these services.

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, called out the bill’s cutting of services for prenatal and postnatal care, as well as food assistance.

“This bill has a laser focus on taking away from babies, pregnant women and hungry children,” Rubel said. “Everybody else already doesn’t have health care. I really ask if that’s who we want to be going after here.”

Rubel also highlighted that several sectors of Idaho’s economy have a high percentage of undocumented workers, such as the dairy industry.

“Realistically, look at the population we’re talking about,” Rubel said. “These people are working for $8 an hour, maybe at a dairy or in a field. There’s no way they can take days off work and drive to another state to get care, they’re just going to forgo the care.”

According to a 2024 study by the University of Idaho’s McClure Center, approximately 35,000 undocumented immigrants live in Idaho — a number which has remained consistent since 2005. About 86% of undocumented immigrants are employed, 12% higher than the national average, with most working in agriculture, construction and service industries.

The study also found that, despite unauthorized immigrants paying sales, income and other taxes, these same people are ineligible for most public programs funded through tax dollars.

Rep. Megan Egbert, D-Boise, expressed concerns over the bill’s potential conflict with federal law, speaking to federal WIC and school lunch programs which do not consider immigration status for eligibility.

“We can all disagree about where compassion should stop and where it shouldn’t, but I don’t think we even need to be talking about compassion, I think we could stop here at talking about governance,” Egbert said. “The problem with this bill and what it’s striking is that it no longer makes sense, and it’s in direct conflict with federal rule.”

In a heated exchange during testimony, Rep. Clint Hostetler, R-Twin Falls, condemned what he called an “emotionalist, terrorist” narrative, in reference to concerns expressed about the bill’s impact on vulnerable populations like children and the elderly.

“Anytime we try to do anything … we’re hit with these emotionalist, terrorist narratives of ‘grandmas are dying and children are starving,’ ” Hostetler said.

House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, cautioned Hostetler against his characterization of the arguments after an objection from Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg.

Supporters of the bill generally opposed taxpayer assistance for undocumented people, with many arguing that private programs should serve this purpose. Rep Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, said he was against “encouraging” people to come to Idaho for assistance.

“They broke the law to come into our country, and yet we’re supposed to just go ahead and give away our tax money and put ourselves continually at risk and debt,” Tanner said. “There are a lot of people out there that will actually care and want to provide services. They can still do that.”

The Legislature has seen several bills relating to immigration and assistance this session; the proposed House Bill 335 would make it illegal for anyone to offer assistance to undocumented persons, including providing shelter, transportation, financial support or legal assistance.

Rep. Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome, underscored national concerns about disease spread and the costs associated with treatment versus prevention.

“If you look nationally, we have a measles epidemic making its way across this nation,” Nelsen said. “Consider how many vaccines you can buy for the cost of putting a few kids into intensive care. For an investment from the state, that’s probably the best numerical investment we could possibly make.”

HB 135 now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

Schwicht may be contacted at newsroom@idahopress.com.

How they voted

Yes: Kyle Harris-R, Dale Hawkins-R, Brandon Mitchell-R, Heather Scott-R, Charlie Shepherd-R

No: Lori McCann-R