A lesser known piece of legislation that was passed in the 2023 Idaho Legislature was S1030. In essence, S1030 broadens authority for police officers to effectively enforce Idaho’s immigration laws.
While Idaho already had robust laws distinguishing between legal and illegal immigrants, S1030 comes as a much-needed safeguard for law enforcement to shake out the legal status of individuals that have been detained without fear of running into 4th Amendment violations.
The main part of S1030 actually addresses “governmental entities” – not police officers as you’d expect. It prevents any governmental elected body from encumbering law enforcement in their duties when they feel the need to request the citizenship status of detained individuals.
For example, it would prevent the Boise mayor, or Pocatello County Commissioner from preventing investigations by law enforcement when they’re “inquiring into the immigration status of a person under lawful detention.”
Part of the bill also allows law enforcement to coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the pursuance with Idaho Immigration law.
S1030 was sponsored by Senator Dan Foreman, and Representative Heather Scott. Read the bill text on the Idaho Legislature website.
