New immigration, refugee resettlement reporting bill advances to Idaho Senate
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Laura Guido, Idaho Capital Sun
BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — Idaho state lawmakers and law enforcement leaders continue to disagree about the impact or need for new immigration bills advancing in the Idaho Legislature.
The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee voted Monday to advance Senate Bill 1422, which includes requirements for city and county law enforcement to record and verify nationality and immigration status on every arrest and publish that information. The bill was sent to the Senate floor with a recommendation that it pass. Bill sponsor, Senate President Pro Tempore, Kelly Anthon, R-Declo, later sent the bill to the “14th Order,” where it may be amended.
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Representatives from the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association and the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police opposed portions of the bill that they say were redundant and encroaching on federal agencies’ authority. Spokespeople for those groups previously told the Idaho Capital Sun they were not consulted to create the legislation, nor on similar immigration-related legislation proposed this year. Anthon said the bill was meant to improve accountability. The bill, which was introduced last week, combines three other bills proposed this year that failed to advance.
SB 1442 would:
- Require the Idaho Office for Refugees, which is managed by a private nonprofit in partnership with the federal government, to report demographic, language, health and housing data about the people the office serves.
- Prohibit the refugee office from helping any undocumented people, or “encouraging or inducing” someone to remain in the U.S. illegally.
- Require all local and county law enforcement to verify immigration status and nationality of every person arrested, and report information twice a year.
Law enforcement concerned with definitions, and ‘overreach’ in bill
Five people testified at Monday’s public hearing, all in opposition to the bill.
The testimony largely centered on the portion of the bill that would require law enforcement to record and verify nationality and immigration status of every arrested individual. The requirement would apply to arrests made in the “administration of criminal justice,” which is defined as “detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders. The administration of criminal justice shall include criminal identification activities and the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal history record information.”
The broad definition caused some concern that it may unintentionally require verification when police investigate a person.
The bill also requires all law enforcement, including city police and county sheriff’s offices, to generate reports that include the immigration status and nationality of everyone arrested and crime statistics related to undocumented people arrested in Idaho, “including the number of
illegal aliens investigated, apprehended, detained, and transferred to federal officials; the crimes for which such persons were arrested.”
“I think it’s poorly worded,” Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford said, speaking on behalf of the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association.
He said the reporting requirement to include undocumented people who are “investigated, apprehended, detained and transferred to federal officials” may unintentionally broaden the requirement.
“I think it’s over-promising and under-delivering,” Clifford said. “Because I read that it’s saying everybody we’ve detained or investigated, we’re going to have to look into their status as an American or not, and I’m assuming we don’t want to do that on every traffic stop. Just trying to figure out somebody’s nationality, that’s a bad road in litigation.”
Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue called the bill overreach, and said it pushed local law enforcement into doing work that’s under the purview of federal immigration authorities.
He said, currently, jail staff are already required under law to share information about inmates with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The federal agents can then search their databases, Donahue said, and determine whether or not to ask the jail to detain them until custody could be transferred for deportation.
Bryan Lovell, Idaho Fraternal Order of Police president, said the bill would require municipal police officers to do duplicative work to what’s already being done in jails. He said the requirement would add a burden to officers on the street, who don’t have access to federal databases to be able easily verify status or nationality.
Some lawmakers disagree, say the language in the bill is clear
Anthon, in his closing remarks, was visibly frustrated.
“The bill that I heard discussed is not the bill that’s before you,” he said. “It’s just that simple. I’m stunned. You just have to read the bill.”
He said the testimony was a “misrepresentation of what the bill actually says.”
Meridian Republican Sen. Josh Keyser said the bill was “appropriate record-keeping.”
Committee Chairman, Nampa Republican Sen. Todd Lakey, said he supported moving the bill forward, but asked Anthon to remove the language in the reporting requirement that would add “including the number of illegal aliens investigated, apprehended, detained, and transferred to federal officials.”
Anthon said he was open to that.
The committee’s two Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow of Boise and Assistant Minority Leader James Ruchti of Pocatello, echoed the concerns over wording from the police officers.
New Plymouth Republican Sen. Brandon Shippy said he appreciated what the bill was “trying to accomplish” but said there were unanswered questions with how the bill was written.
Wintrow also was concerned that refugee resettlement was being lumped in with undocumented immigration.
“They are here legally, and they have worked very hard to do so,” Wintrow said.
She said reporting requirements, especially about housing units, “sends the wrong message.”
Wintrow, Ruchti, and Shippy were the only “no” votes on advancing the bill to the Senate floor.