As we survey the rioting, looting, burning of vehicles, assaults on local and federal law enforcement, waving of Mexican flags, and the burning of American flags in Los Angeles, we might breathe a sigh of relief. We don’t live there! But illegal immigration is not confined to any one state, and more importantly, Idaho must remain vigilant and proactive because the quelling of riots will not make the issue go away.
The Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) supported major legislation to call the Biden Administration to account for their treasonous conduct at the border in the 2024 legislative session with House Joint Memorial 11, including this testimony. In my capacity as IFF Legislative Affairs Director, I called it “an invasion of our country,” and when we see people waving Mexican flags in Los Angeles (and more recently, Spokane), we have confirmation.
In the 2025 session, our focus was on legislation aimed at “demagnetizing” Idaho by eliminating free handouts (House Bill 135) and enabling better coordination between local and federal law enforcement, thereby facilitating the quicker expungement of criminal aliens (House Bill 83). In addition, we supported legislation that criminalized harboring illegals by organizations (House Bill 335), beefed up verification of citizenship for voting (House Bill 094), and determined the citizenship of students getting a taxpayer-funded education (House Bill 382). House Bills 83 and 135 were ultimately signed by the governor. Unfortunately, HB 83 watered down the stronger provisions in HB 11 at the behest of some agricultural interests. We noted the following regarding HB 83 in our rating:
“the act would not focus broadly on illegal immigration, instead prioritizing enforcement actions against those who the bill defines as "dangerous illegal aliens." The bill's definition of a "dangerous illegal alien" is one "who has previously been convicted or found guilty, by judgment or withheld judgment, of a dangerous crime in this state or in any other state or nation."
There can be no doubt that IFF has a long and deep track record against illegal immigration. Therefore, it may seem curious why this year’s E-Verify bill, House Bill 252, mustered only a neutral rating on IFF’s Freedom Index. Here’s why.
For starters, IFF never testifies against or actively opposes a bill with a neutral rating and has, in fact, testified in support of some bills rated neutral. Generally, a neutral rating means that we support the policy but have issues with either the language, other provisions in the bill, or implementation.
As noted in our analysis of HB 252, it does reduce the incentives for illegals to come to Idaho, and it protects Idaho’s traditional values and conservative culture. However, this bill combines the use of a government database (which is not error-free) with severe penalties for non-compliant businesses, including the permanent revocation of a business license. That said, we believe that there is a positive path forward for this bill in 2026. We look forward to helping it along.
So why should Idaho continue to press ahead with making our state a place illegal immigrants want to leave? Contrary to the pleadings of the mainstream media, many of these illegals have committed additional crimes and are a threat to public safety. As we noted last October, hundreds of thousands of non-detained illegals who have committed homicide, sexual assault, or drug trafficking are roaming the country. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made all of this known in this letter.
And, as we see in Los Angeles, the problem isn’t going away; they don’t plan on leaving voluntarily.
Next session, Idaho’s Legislature should press ahead with prioritizing measures to make Idaho the least hospitable state for illegal aliens in the nation.
