S 1442 — the Idaho Refugee and Illegal Alien Accountability Act — combined several earlier failed immigration bills into one. It would have:
Required the Idaho Office for Refugees (managed by a private nonprofit in partnership with the federal government) to report demographic, language, health, and housing data about the people it serves. It would also have prohibited the refugee office from providing assistance to undocumented individuals or "encouraging or inducing" someone to remain in the U.S. illegally.
Required all Idaho law enforcement agencies — city police and county sheriff's offices — to verify and report the immigration status and nationality of every person arrested, and publish a report twice a year including crime statistics related to undocumented people arrested in Idaho.
Bill sponsor was Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon (R-District 27, Rupert). The bill was amended before its Senate floor vote and sent to the House.
The Idaho Sheriffs' Association, the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police, and the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association all opposed S 1442 — as they had opposed HB 659 earlier in the session. Spokespeople told the Idaho Capital Sun they were not consulted in drafting the legislation.
Their objections centered on the arrest status verification requirement: the bill's broad definition of "administration of criminal justice" raised concern it could require immigration verification even during initial police investigations — before any arrest.
Idaho FOP President Bryan Lovell told the Capital Sun: "People think we can just poke that stuff into a computer and it's going to spit out accurate information — that's not how it works."
The same three LEO groups that opposed HB 659 in March lined up against S 1442 in April. In both cases, their testimony provided political cover for legislators voting to hold the bills.
The 2026 Idaho legislative session saw a sustained push for state-level immigration enforcement that failed at every turn:
HB 659 — Mandatory ICE 287(g) agreements — passed the House 41-27, killed in Senate State Affairs committee 4-5 on March 16.
S 1260 — Immigration Cooperation and Enforcement Act — this one succeeded. Passed both chambers and was signed by Gov. Little on March 30, 2026.
S 1442 — Refugee audit + arrest status reporting — passed the Senate, killed in House State Affairs voice vote April 1.
S 1441 (ICE agreements, revised version) and S 1443 (conditional deportation) remain in the Senate on 14th Order for amendment as of this writing. The session has not yet adjourned.