Bill Analyses and Ratings
Bill Information: S1442 – Idaho Refugee and Illegal Alien Accountability Act
Bill Summary
This bill creates two new sections of Idaho law. Section 67-467 requires any Idaho-incorporated entity providing refugee resettlement services under federal grants or contracts to submit annual audits to the legislature. These audits must detail the total number of refugees served, their nationality, gender, and language abilities, their participation rates in language programs, the counties and housing units where they are placed, and vital statistics including communicable disease rates. The same section prohibits these entities from harboring, concealing, or transporting illegal aliens, or encouraging them to remain unlawfully in the United States. Entities that do provide services to illegal aliens must compile a catalog of names and identifying demographics matchable against federal immigration databases at DHS, HHS, and the State Department.
Section 67-3015 requires all Idaho law enforcement agencies — state, county, and municipal — to verify and record the immigration status and nationality of every person they arrest. By October 1, 2026, each agency must publish biannual reports containing immigration status and nationality of arrestees, crime statistics related to illegal aliens including investigation, apprehension, detention, and transfer to federal authorities, and the specific charges involved. Law enforcement agencies that fail to comply with these reporting requirements face potential withholding of state funding. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, under an emergency declaration.
Overall Assessment
This bill imposes new transparency and compliance obligations on refugee resettlement organizations and law enforcement agencies throughout Idaho. Resettlement nonprofits and contractors face mandatory annual legislative audits covering refugee demographics, housing placement, and health data, while being explicitly prohibited from assisting individuals unlawfully present in the United States. Every Idaho law enforcement agency must now verify and publicly report the immigration status of all arrested individuals on a biannual basis, with state funding as the enforcement lever for noncompliance.
Rating Breakdown
ARTICLE I. Responsibility in Government (0)
The bill requires annual audits of refugee resettlement entities and biannual public reports from law enforcement agencies, which creates new layers of public accountability for federally funded resettlement activity. However, the bill does not address government fiscal responsibility, taxation, budget transparency, or the size and scope of state government programs, which are the core concerns of this metric.
ARTICLE II. Citizen Involvement in Government (0)
The bill concerns immigration enforcement and refugee oversight, with no provisions touching elections, voting procedures, citizen participation in the political process, or civic engagement mechanisms. It creates no new rights or restrictions related to how Idahoans interact with their government.
ARTICLE III. Education (0)
No provisions in this bill address schools, curriculum, parental rights in education, school funding, or teacher policy. The bill's language remediation reporting requirement tracks refugee participation in existing programs but does not create, fund, or regulate any educational institution or policy.
ARTICLE IV. Agriculture (0)
The bill contains no provisions related to farming, ranching, agricultural markets, water law as it pertains to agriculture, or rural land use. Its scope is limited to refugee resettlement oversight and law enforcement immigration reporting.
ARTICLE V. Water (0)
The bill makes no reference to water rights, water appropriation, irrigation, reservoirs, or any aspect of water management policy. It is entirely unrelated to Idaho's water law framework.
ARTICLE VI. Natural Resources and Environment (0)
The bill contains no provisions addressing environmental stewardship, natural resource extraction, federal land policy, wilderness management, or any related topic. Its subject matter is immigration and refugee accountability.
ARTICLE VII. Energy (0)
The bill makes no reference to energy production, energy independence, utility rates, or energy research. It has no bearing on Idaho's energy policy or infrastructure.
ARTICLE VIII. Idaho National Laboratories (0)
The bill contains no provisions related to the Idaho National Laboratory, nuclear energy research, or technology development. Its scope is confined to immigration and refugee oversight.
ARTICLE IX. Private Property Rights (0)
The bill does not address property ownership, eminent domain, regulatory takings, or due process protections for property holders. While it does regulate the operational conduct of resettlement entities, it does not implicate property rights in any direct way.
ARTICLE X. State and Federal Lands (0)
The bill contains no provisions concerning the ownership, management, or transfer of state or federal lands. It is unrelated to public land policy in Idaho.
ARTICLE XI. Wildlife Management (0)
The bill makes no reference to fish, game, hunting, fishing, predator management, or wildlife conservation. It has no connection to Idaho's wildlife management framework.
ARTICLE XII. Economy (0)
While the bill imposes new compliance and reporting burdens on resettlement organizations and law enforcement agencies, it does not address Idaho commerce, small business regulation, labor markets, or economic development policy. The regulatory impact on resettlement entities is narrow and sector-specific rather than broadly economic.
ARTICLE XIII. Health and Welfare (0)
Section 67-467(3)(g) requires resettlement entities to report vital statistics including communicable disease rates among refugees served, which generates public health data. However, the bill does not modify health care delivery, insurance access, welfare program eligibility, or public health infrastructure — it creates a reporting requirement, not a health policy intervention.
ARTICLE XIV. American Family (0)
The bill does not address marriage, parental rights, abortion, child welfare policy, or family structure. Its provisions are directed at institutional actors — resettlement organizations and law enforcement agencies — rather than family-level policy.
ARTICLE XV. Older Americans (0)
The bill contains no provisions affecting older Idahoans, retirement security, senior services, or age-related employment policy. Its subject matter is entirely unrelated to this population.
ARTICLE XVI. Law and Order with Justice (1)
Section 67-3015(2) mandates that all Idaho law enforcement agencies verify and record the immigration status and nationality of every arrested individual as part of the administration of criminal justice. Section 67-3015(3) requires biannual public reports on illegal alien arrests, crimes charged, and transfers to federal authorities, with state funding withheld from agencies that fail to comply — creating a direct enforcement mechanism to ensure participation in federal-state immigration cooperation.
ARTICLE XVII. National Defense - Securing the Border (1)
Section 67-467(4) explicitly prohibits Idaho-incorporated resettlement entities from harboring, concealing, or transporting illegal aliens, or encouraging them to remain unlawfully in the United States. Section 67-467(5) requires these entities to compile catalogs of illegal aliens served, matched against federal DHS, HHS, and State Department databases — directly supporting federal immigration enforcement efforts and asserting Idaho's role in border security cooperation.
ARTICLE XVIII. Election of Judges and Idaho Supreme Court Justices (0)
The bill contains no provisions related to judicial selection, judicial elections, or the role of Idaho courts. It does not affect the judiciary in any direct way.
ARTICLE XIX. Religious Liberty (0)
The bill does not address religious freedom, the free exercise of religion, or conscience protections. Many refugee resettlement organizations in Idaho are faith-based, and the audit and prohibition requirements apply to them equally as to secular entities, but the bill neither targets nor protects religious exercise specifically.