A woman spoke out about ICE. Then an Idaho leader blocked her from a state post
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Carolyn Komatsoulis, Idaho Statesman
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A top Idaho lawmaker blocked the reappointment of a woman to the Idaho Human Rights Commission after she spoke out on social media against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gov. Brad Little then withdrew his nomination.
Estella Zamora, 72, a longtime human rights activist who has served as president and vice president of the commission, posted after President Donald Trump ramped up immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, which led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens.
The commission exists to protect people from illegal discrimination. It handles complaints.
A Statesman review of her Facebook account showed that so far in 2026, she has asked Trump to move ICE out of Minnesota, shared posts about anti-ICE protests, and wrote that Alex Pretti, a nurse shot by federal agents, was an “American Hero.”
“Not. Going. To. Happen,” Sen. Kelly Anthon, R-Declo and the Senate president pro tempore, wrote Jan. 30 on X. “This appointment will not move forward in the Idaho Senate.”
Not. Going. To. Happen. This appointment will not move forward in the Idaho Senate. https://t.co/cIctUzscrn
— Senator Kelly Anthon (@kelly_a_anthon) January 31, 2026
Gov. Brad Little withdrew his reappointment of Zamora, according to a letter sent to the Senate on Monday. Little wrote that Zamora’s service “has concluded effective immediately.”
Little did not return a request Tuesday for comment. Zamora also did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
On Wednesday, Anthon told the Statesman that he’d heard concerns from constituents about her appointment. Her position had no oversight of ICE, he said.
“I think that the concern was the tone of her comments were so political that it would undermine her ability to be seen as being objective,” Anthon said. “When you are making determinations for the Idaho Human Rights Commission, you have to be able to be seen as absolutely objective, nonpolitical and someone who believes in the rule of law.”
“Keeping an anti-ICE ideologue off the Idaho Human Rights Commission is a small victory in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a worthwhile one,” Brian Almon, a right-wing blogger, wrote on his Substack blog. “Let’s use dialogue and persuasion to build on this and keep winning for the people of Idaho.”
The Boise area hasn’t seen the kind of ICE activity present in Minneapolis, but immigration enforcement has increased.
In Idaho, agents have changed their tactics, like smashing car windows and pushing for the mandatory detention of immigrants, according to previous Statesman reporting. In at least one instance, ICE waited at the Boise airport to pick someone up. In October, the FBI, ICE and other federal agencies raided a horse race and arrested over 100 immigrants, at least three of whom were lawfully in the U.S. The raid drew criticism over family separations.
Zamora is a founding member of the Canyon County Human Rights Task Force and has worked as an interpreter and interpreter coordinator in the court system. As a child, she lived in a Caldwell labor camp and dealt with racism. She told KTVB in 2025 that the other kids called her bus the “Mexican bus.”
During her Jan. 28 appointment hearing, Sen. Ben Adams, R-Nampa, asked about her experience with immigration and human rights in Idaho. “I don’t recall an actual immigration case coming before the commission,” Zamora said.