During the 2025 legislative session, Idaho lawmakers introduced a slate of anti-immigrant bills, including House Bill 83 (H.B. 83).
H.B. 83 introduced new state-level immigration offenses and enforcement mechanisms in Idaho. In particular, it criminalizes (1) entering the state without lawful immigration status and (2) being present in the state if you were previously subject to deportation or removal proceedings. The legislation is modeled after a 2023 Texas law, Senate Bill 4, which has been blocked by the courts. These laws are a national trend harming immigrant communities.
Hours after the bill’s enactment on March 27, 2025, the ACLU of Idaho—in partnership with attorneys at the national ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project—filed a lawsuit known as IORC v. Labrador against the state. In our lawsuit, we argue that H.B. 83 violates the U.S. Constitution by attempting to supersede the federal government’s oversight of immigration enforcement, by impermissibly limiting interstate commerce, and by failing to give ordinary people fair notice of what conduct it proscribes.
As of April 2025, a federal judge granted a class-wide preliminary injunction in IORC v. Labrador, blocking enforcement of HB 83’s entry and reentry crimes statewide until the litigation is resolved.
