Bill Analyses and Ratings
Bill Information: S1441 – Mandates Local ICE 287(g) Agreements Statewide
Bill Summary
Senate Bill 1441 adds Section 19-626 to Idaho Code, requiring every municipal police department and county sheriff’s office in Idaho to apply for a Section 287(g) memorandum of agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Under 287(g), specially trained local officers gain authority to investigate, apprehend, and detain individuals subject to removal under federal immigration law, operating under federal oversight through two available models: the jail enforcement model and the warrant service officer model.
Participation is conditioned on resource availability — agencies are only required to participate to the extent that necessary resources are reasonably available. An agency may opt out entirely only if its county commissioners or city council issues a specific written finding of fact that entering the agreement would hinder the agency’s ability to provide other legally required services. This opt-out is not automatic; it requires formal, documented action by the governing body.
Any agency that opts out or limits its participation must publish a public statement and forward it to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security explaining the reasons for non-participation and describing any alternate cooperation efforts with ICE’s enforcement and removal operations. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, under an emergency declaration.
Overall Assessment
This bill makes Idaho the first state to broadly mandate that all local law enforcement agencies seek formal immigration enforcement authority from the federal government, directly integrating local police and sheriffs into ICE’s identification, arrest, detention, and removal operations. Every agency in the state — from large urban departments to small rural sheriff’s offices — must apply for 287(g) agreements or formally justify in writing why they cannot, with that justification forwarded to the Department of Homeland Security. The bill strengthens coordination between state and federal immigration enforcement but places new administrative and operational burdens on local agencies without providing dedicated funding to cover training, staffing, or compliance costs.
Rating Breakdown
ARTICLE I. Responsibility in Government (0)
The bill creates a state mandate requiring every local law enforcement agency to apply for 287(g) agreements and, if opting out or limiting participation, to publish and transmit formal statements to DHS — all without appropriating funds to cover the associated training, staffing, or administrative costs. This conflicts with the principle that the government entity mandating a program should fund its implementation. However, the resource availability caveat in subsection (2) and the opt-out provision in subsection (3) partially mitigate the unfunded mandate concern, leaving the fiscal responsibility impact ambiguous enough to rate neutral.
ARTICLE II. Citizen Involvement in Government (0)
This bill governs administrative agreements between local law enforcement agencies and a federal agency. It creates no new mechanisms for citizen participation, alters no voting or election processes, and establishes no public input requirements beyond the governing body's written finding for opt-out.
ARTICLE III. Education (0)
The bill's provisions are confined to law enforcement agency obligations regarding federal immigration enforcement agreements. No educational institutions, curricula, funding streams, or parental rights are touched by this legislation.
ARTICLE IV. Agriculture (0)
The bill establishes requirements for local law enforcement to enter immigration enforcement agreements with ICE. It contains no provisions affecting agricultural markets, farm operations, water access for agriculture, or rural land use.
ARTICLE V. Water (0)
This legislation is limited to law enforcement and immigration enforcement cooperation. It contains no provisions related to water rights, water appropriation, reservoir management, or federal interference with state water jurisdiction.
ARTICLE VI. Natural Resources and Environment (0)
The bill addresses only the administrative relationship between local law enforcement and ICE. It has no bearing on natural resource management, environmental stewardship, federal land policy, or wilderness and forest governance.
ARTICLE VII. Energy (0)
Senate Bill 1441 is an immigration enforcement cooperation measure. It contains no provisions related to energy production, resource development, electrical rate regulation, or energy independence.
ARTICLE VIII. Idaho National Laboratories (0)
The bill's scope is limited to local law enforcement obligations regarding ICE agreements. It contains no provisions concerning the Idaho National Laboratory, nuclear research, or technology transfer.
ARTICLE IX. Private Property Rights (0)
This bill creates administrative requirements for law enforcement agencies and does not involve property takings, eminent domain, due process protections for property owners, or development rights.
ARTICLE X. State and Federal Lands (0)
The bill governs law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It contains no provisions addressing the ownership, management, or transfer of state or federal lands.
ARTICLE XI. Wildlife Management (0)
Senate Bill 1441 is an immigration enforcement measure with no connection to fish and game management, hunting and fishing rights, predator control, or wildlife habitat policy.
ARTICLE XII. Economy (0)
While increased immigration enforcement activity could have downstream effects on Idaho's labor market — particularly in agriculture, construction, and food processing sectors that rely on immigrant workers — the bill itself contains no direct provisions addressing commerce, business regulation, labor policy, or economic development. The economic effects are indirect and speculative relative to the bill's text.
ARTICLE XIII. Health and Welfare (0)
The bill establishes law enforcement obligations regarding ICE cooperation. It contains no provisions governing healthcare delivery, insurance markets, welfare program eligibility, or public health infrastructure.
ARTICLE XIV. American Family (0)
This bill addresses the administrative relationship between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. It does not directly legislate on marriage, parental rights, abortion, child protection, or other family policy matters.
ARTICLE XV. Older Americans (0)
The bill's provisions are confined to law enforcement agency requirements for immigration enforcement cooperation. It contains no provisions affecting services, benefits, or protections for older Idahoans.
ARTICLE XVI. Law and Order with Justice (1)
The bill directly expands local law enforcement's capacity to enforce immigration law by requiring agencies to seek 287(g) authority, enabling trained local officers to investigate, apprehend, and detain individuals unlawfully present in the United States. This aligns with the principle that Idaho, as a sovereign state, has the right and responsibility to defend against threats to public safety and to cooperate with federal enforcement of immigration law. The mandatory application requirement — rather than leaving participation to agency discretion — ensures statewide engagement with federal removal operations.
ARTICLE XVII. National Defense - Securing the Border (1)
By mandating that every local law enforcement agency in Idaho apply for 287(g) agreements, the bill directly operationalizes state-level support for federal border security and interior enforcement priorities. Subsection (1)(a) explicitly defines the purpose of enforcement and removal operations as managing 'identification, arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who are subject to removal or are unlawfully present,' and the bill requires local agencies to become active participants in that mission. This represents a concrete state legislative action in support of federal immigration enforcement and border security objectives.
ARTICLE XVIII. Election of Judges and Idaho Supreme Court Justices (0)
This bill concerns law enforcement administrative requirements for immigration cooperation. It has no bearing on judicial elections, the selection of Supreme Court justices, or judicial philosophy standards.
ARTICLE XIX. Religious Liberty (0)
Senate Bill 1441 establishes requirements for local law enforcement agencies to enter immigration enforcement agreements. It contains no provisions that restrict, protect, or otherwise affect the free exercise of religion or religious institutions.