Idaho's attorney general told us on March 31 that he and 23 other GOP state attorneys general were going to school the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of birthright citizenship. Even before the 13 colonies gave birth to the United States, we have regarded all children born on American soil to be citizens, except for those of diplomats. That principle was written into the Constitution of the United States by the Fourteenth Amendment, which was adopted in 1868. It has been the law of the land ever since.
Raul Labrador got honked off when I wrote an opinion piece saying he was dead wrong. He responded with a column charging me with "credibility problems.” I’ll let readers make their own decision on that. However, even the rightward leaning Supreme Court did not buy the Labrador argument. Once again, those who gained U.S. citizenship by having been born on American soil can rest easy. We have not heard a word from him about that spectacular loss or how much he spent on his wild goose chase.
Labrador is at it again with a July 23 Facebook post celebrating the 43,000 arrests made by ICE in June. He proclaimed that "every one of those arrests is a win for the person who’s been waiting their turn in line to immigrate legally.” That is not necessarily true because ICE has notoriously been arresting people who are citizens or otherwise legally present in the United States.
A Mexican national, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who had lived in Houston for over 35 years, built a successful business, sent three sons to college and was waiting to get legal status, was killed by an ICE officer on July 7. He was not the person being targeted by ICE and was apparently not suspected of wrongdoing, but that did not seem to matter. His only offense was appearing to be Hispanic. A case of racial profiling.
Joan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, a food delivery driver from Columbia, was shot dead by an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine, a week later. He was legally in the country, had a Social Security card and was not a target of ICE’s large dragnet. He, too, received the death penalty because of his looks. Guerrero’s executioner was a mentally troubled individual with a history of violenc
We have sort of gotten used to ICE’s brutal tactics. After all, Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by ICE agents in January. We have seen the bystander videos, which indicate the shootings were completely unjustified. ICE stonewalled the local prosecutors for months, only turning over evidence of the shootings on July 13.
It may be difficult for local authorities to prosecute ICE agents who perpetrate violent acts against immigrants and their supporters so long as Donald Trump controls the US Department of Justice. However, once a new president is elected in 2028, a new administration may be able to bring the perpetrators to justice. Thugs take heed!
Labrador may be misreading the mood of the public on the brutal tactics of ICE. We were told early on that ICE would target “the worst of the worst.” That was fine with many people, but it turns out that the ICE deportation machine is sweeping up substantially more law-abiding immigrants than dangerous criminals. In fact, an increasing number of detainees do not have any criminal history.
Focusing on Idaho, for years we’ve had a fairly stable population of about 35,000 undocumented immigrants. Most are here performing work that Idahoans will no longer do–working the fields and milking cows. Others are performing work where there are not enough workers to meet the demand–construction, child and elder care, landscaping and the like. Many have established community roots. They are our friends and neighbors. Their kids grow up as citizens and enrich our state.
Labrador has also expressed full support for the 2026 Republican platform, which states: “We oppose supporting illegal aliens by way of free access to housing, healthcare, technology, voting rights, or an unearned path to amnesty…” Undocumented folks do not qualify for such benefits. On the other hand, the workers contribute substantially to the support of governmental programs.
A creditable calculation determined that they paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, of which $70.9 million were paid in Idaho. $59.4 billion went to the federal government, with $25.7 billion going to Social Security taxes and $6.4 billion going to Medicare taxes. They are barred from receiving benefits from both programs.
My unsolicited advice to the attorney general is to get your facts straight before bad mouthing the people who put food on your table. Everyone in Idaho deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.