Idaho State Police to partner with ICE to transport inmates to detention facilities

Gov. Brad Little said Thursday that Idaho State Police will soon begin helping facilitate the deportation of people who are in Idaho illegally and currently serving sentences in county jails.

The Idaho State Police entered into a formal agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through the federal 287(g) program to help transport unauthorized immigrants who’ve been convicted of crimes to detention centers where they will be processed for deportation. Under the agreement, the state will be authorized to spend up to $300,000 to transport up to 100 people over the next year.

The agreement will go into effect when the state is authorized by the State Board of Examiners to spend the funding.

Little in a press release announcing the agreement said the idea is to prevent the re-release of people back into Idaho communities after they serve their sentences for other crimes.

“These are people who pose the greatest danger to Idaho families,” Little said in the release.

Currently, the only certified immigration detention center in the state is the Jefferson County Jail in Rigby.

The Jefferson County Jail has a total capacity of 134, a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office official said. As of Thursday morning, 90 people were in custody there.

The Board of Examiners will likely consider the request this month. Information about where the $300,000 would come from was not available by press time. 

In February, Little signed an executive order directing state law enforcement to pursue the 287(g) agreements, which allows ICE to “delegate to state and local law enforcement authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight,” according to the ICE website. 

This session, the Legislature also passed House Bill 83, which created new, state-level immigration crimes. The law was immediately blocked from going into effect as the court considers whether it unconstitutionally usurps federal authority to enforce federal immigration laws.

Federal District Court Judge Amanda Brailsford allowed the parts of the bill that required local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agencies to go into effect.

Little’s office said in the press release that the new agreement “follows the spirit” of HB 83, which the governor signed March 27.

Some opponents of the bill argued that a number of industries in Idaho — such as dairy production and construction — rely on labor from undocumented workers. Some argued that the bill didn't go far enough, and wanted more teeth. 

The ACLU of Idaho, which filed the lawsuit against the bill, has argued that it would invite racial profiling because it would allow "illegal entry" crimes to be charged for undocumented people who are "suspected" or investigated of crimes, not just those who are convicted. 

"The bill sponsors claim that bills like H.B. 83 only target people who have already allegedly committed crimes, but history shows that the application of laws like this only serves to foster false allegations and racial profiling," Ruby Mendez-Mota, ACLU of Idaho campaign strategist, said in an emailed statement for a previous story. “Our community is tired and angry at being labeled criminals deserving of suspicious scrutiny for simply living and working in Idaho. It is textbook racism, and we deserve better.”

President Donald Trump has called for mass deportations and bolstered immigration enforcement. The budget package passed by the House and now being considered by the Senate currently includes a proposed $45 billion for immigration detention centers, $8 billion to hire 10,000 new immigration enforcement personnel by 2029, and $14.4 billion for deportations, according to the American Immigration Council. 

Little has been supportive of the efforts, and in May, tweeted that he had met with the federal "Board Czar" Tom Homan "about how Idaho can continue to support @POTUS' (the president's) mission to secure the southern border." 

U.S. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in the press release from Little's office that he was "really encouraged to see Idaho making communities safer by signing on with our 287(g) program." 

He said that allowing for the transfer of inmates "in a safe setting" will mean the immigration agency wouldn't "need to send dozens of federal law enforcement officers into the public to make arrests." 

"Partnerships like this one keep offenders out of communities and protect our families, friends and neighbors,” Lyons said.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in the release that the 297(g) program is "critically important to our strategy of having the enforcement that we need to really address the criminal activities that we’ve seen out on the ground."