Although Idaho is far from our southern border, the issue of the illegal immigrant invasion is close to the hearts and minds of many Idahoans.
Why?
Well, for starters, Idahoans understand that the roughly 8 million people who crossed our southern border during the first three years of the Biden regime are now dispersed throughout our fair land, including Idaho. The scourge of fentanyl and sex trafficking are part of the baggage this invasion has brought.
But while the timing was ripe, the Legislature failed to send the appropriate message to Idaho’s Congressional delegation and, frankly, to the rest of the country. It was not for lack of trying on the part of conservative legislators, principally Representative Dale Hawkins and Senator Glenneda Zuiderveld. They labored mightily to send the strongest message to Idaho’s Congressional delegation. And they came close. The message was HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 11 – Idaho State Legislature. This memorial called for the impeachment of the treasonous President Biden, the enactment of the toughest immigration proposal on record — (U.S.) House Resolution 2 - The Secure Border Act of 2023 — and only then consideration of the migrants themselves. HJM11 failed on a tie vote because too many establishment Republicans sided with Democrats to vote down the only immigration memorial with real teeth in it. Review and remember the names of those who voted no!
How did we get here?
If we go back to the 2023 session, the first piece of legislation to deal squarely with this issue was a soft SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 101 – Idaho State Legislature with language that would have warmed the hearts of the immigration activists and the amnesty for agriculture brigades. Here’s an excerpt:
"It is estimated that, as of 2018, there were 11.4 million people present in the United States without lawful status, and current estimates are that 2.4 million people are employed in agriculture. The vast majority of this population have jobs, are hard workers, pay taxes, and are critical to the economic production of domestic business, and further it would be impractical to incarcerate or deport a class of people uniformly and without regard to circumstances..”
It made the issue primarily about the need for labor. And how do people here illegally pay taxes unless they use fraudulently obtained social security numbers? Of course, the euphemism “without lawful status” sidesteps the use of the word “illegal,” which is never mentioned in the document.
Fast forward to the 2024 session, and almost on cue, another memorial was introduced in the Senate, SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 102 – Idaho State Legislature. It had slightly stronger language, did mention the word “illegal,” but it also concluded with a call for targeted immigration reform and no mention of President Biden by name. After all, you wouldn’t want to call Biden out for his 64 executive actions to compromise border security.
Sadly, after the defeat of HJM 11, the Legislature fell back on SJM 102 and settled on the softer message going to D.C. What should Idahoans do next? Contact your U.S. Senators and Congressmen and tell them why you favor the stronger language in HJM 11 by quoting the language. After all, if President Biden is not held accountable for sanctioning an invasion at our southern border, can he be held accountable for anything?
