Texas-style immigration bill moves through House committee

BOISE — A bill to allow local police to enforce immigration laws was introduced in the House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, presented the legislation, which is modeled after Texas’ SB 4 — a law that has been blocked from being enforced as it is litigated in courts.

“What this seeks to do is we’re going to be creating a state-level offense for individuals entering Idaho from a foreign nation outside of the designated ports of entry,” Crane said.

Under the bill, the first offense of “illegal entry” would be a misdemeanor and a second offense would be a felony and would trigger deportation. The legislation would also provide civil immunity to law enforcement, local government employees or contractors against lawsuits that could stem from attempted enforcement under the bill. This immunity wouldn’t apply if a court or jury found the official, employee or contractor “acted in bad faith, with conscious indifference, or with recklessness.”

The bill would require state magistrate judges to order that someone return to their country from which they entered if they are convicted.

Crane said he consulted with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton regarding the bill, which is nearly identical to the Texas bill that has been mired in court. Crane said upon Paxton’s recommendation, he added a severability clause — which means if any part of the legislation is found unconstitutional or invalid, that part could be severed from the rest of the bill and the rest of it could continue to go into effect. He also added an emergency clause, which would mean the bill would go into effect immediately upon its passage and approval by the Legislature and governor.

The bill that Crane modeled it after has been tied up in federal court since its passage in 2023. There are questions about whether local government and law enforcement have the authority to enforce federal immigration law, which has traditionally only been enforceable by federal agencies and federal courts. The law was immediately challenged by the U.S. government under the Biden administration and ACLU.

The Texas law is still being considered by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Asked if the bill was being enforced, Crane responded that the Texas law “is absolutely enforceable.”

Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, said he would have questions during a hearing about if it violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which is the principle that in general, federal law takes precedence over conflicting state laws.

He also had questions about the fiscal note provided, which estimates that a supplemental appropriation of $250,000 would be needed in the current fiscal year and a fiscal year 2026 appropriation of $1 million would be needed for relocations and confinement.

The House State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to introduce the bill, which allows it to return for a full public hearing.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.