A bill aimed at controlling illegal immigration in Idaho is on its way to the Idaho House floor.
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee recommended that House Bill 83 be passed and voted on Wednesday to forward it to the House floor. The law would make illegal entry a new offense. A misdemeanor charge would be brought against someone who entered Idaho without the required authorization, and a felony charge would be brought against someone who did so again. Law enforcement, however, could only act on an individual’s immigrant status if they were already being held or looked into for another offense.
Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, the measure’s sponsor, first presented the bill in 2024 as a copy of a contentious Texas law that permits law police to hold those who are suspected of not having the proper authorization to be in the nation. Since the Idaho Legislature ended in April, Crane’s bill never made it past the Idaho House floor.
On January 14, Crane reintroduced the bill, however he has since revised it in response to input from the Idaho Dairymen’s Association and homebuilders organizations in Idaho. According to the most recent version, police enforcement can only become engaged in immigration enforcement when an individual is being held or looked into for possibly committing a separate crime.
Crane informed the committee that the goal of this measure is to enable our state and local law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the federal agents and the Trump administration to address this problem.
Could litigation result from this bill? This is what the co-sponsor of the bill states.
The bill’s amendments, according to co-sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, are intended to target undocumented immigrants in Idaho who already have a criminal history, especially those who are gang members.
Skaug stated, “We do not want our police to go through neighborhoods looking for anybody that doesn’t look like us.” That is not what we desire. Our Sheriffs Association and I had a conversation. They lack the manpower and have no interest in that type of enforcement.
According to Skaug, the bill would forbid police from asking for citizenship documentation when making an arrest for a crime.
According to Skaug, crimes do not result in a traffic ticket. It’s a violation. However, you might receive a citation for the misdemeanor part of this bill if you are being investigated for or charged with a real crime.
Rep. Todd Achilles, a Democrat from Boise, expressed gratitude for the bill’s modifications but expressed concern that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which makes immigration law a federal issue. He stated that Idaho taxpayers will bear the cost of a lawsuit pertaining to this bill.
That has a lot of precedent, Achilles stated. How are we drafting this measure such that it will be viewed differently than the Texas version that is currently pending in the courts?
According to the Texas Tribune, Skaug stated that he thinks the bill from Idaho is superior to the one from Texas, which was immediately blocked from going into force by legal challenges from the U.S. Department of Justice and Immigration as well as immigration advocacy groups.
“With the current administration and the changes they’re making, I’m not worried about the Supremacy Clause on our bill,” Skaug stated. I don’t believe the federal government will sue us for this.
The committee heard testimony from three individuals, including Bob Naerebout, the director of government affairs for the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, and Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, all of whom were in support.
A $1 million general fund appropriation for the 2026 budget year and a $250,000 supplemental appropriation for the 2025 fiscal year would be needed for the bill’s approval, according to its fiscal note. According to Crane, the money covers the cost of law enforcement’s transportation of undocumented immigrants from Idaho to the southern border.
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