'Dangerous' immigrants sent to ICE, Idaho Gov. Little said. Most had no violent crimes

BOISE, Idaho — As Idaho moved to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Gov. Brad Little promised that the state would help remove “highly dangerous illegal alien criminals.” In a news release last month, Little said Idaho State Police would target only undocumented immigrants convicted of violent crimes and already set to be deported.

But criminal background checks conducted by the Idaho Statesman found that most of the men transported to detention centers had no history of violent convictions.

To conduct this review, the Statesman searched each of the men’s names — and several variations — through databases, including state and federal online public court systems. The Statesman also cross-checked what it found with the descriptions of crimes the Governor’s Office listed for each of the names. The Statesman was able to find court records that lined up with the governor’s statement for most of the 53 people identified by the executive office.

Only five of the men the Statesman was able to find through court records were convicted of violent crimes. For the rest of the men, whose criminal cases the Statesman either couldn’t find or couldn’t verify, only five were listed as having committed violent crimes by the Governor’s Office.

Several reasons could be at play as to why a few of the cases didn’t match, including charges stemming from an out-of-state case or misspelled names. There isn’t a public database to search state-level crimes nationwide.

Idaho State Police Director Col. Bill Gardiner said his agency would only transport undocumented immigrants who had finished their criminal sentences. Under the agency’s 287(g) agreement with ICE, state troopers have broad powers to interrogate anyone believed to be an undocumented immigrant, make arrests, and transport them to ICE.

While the agreement allows state police to transport people who entered the country illegally solely for an immigration violation, Gardiner told the Statesman that troopers would transport only those who had completed their criminal sentences. Those were the limitations set by Little, Gardiner added.

“His whole focus has been to remove the criminals,” he said in an interview. “Well, in order to be a criminal, you need to finish your sentence.”

But men who had no criminal convictions, and sometimes only had one pending misdemeanor charge, were in ICE detention, not in any county jails or state prisons. The Governor’s Office in a statement did not address questions from the Statesman about the men being deported for nonviolent crimes or charges without convictions, and simply reiterated that the initiative is “successfully removing dangerous illegal alien criminals” from Idaho.

“The illegal immigrants the Idaho State Police has transported were in jail or prison when they were picked up and had accompanying past criminal activity,” Little’s spokesperson Joan Varsek wrote. “Gov. Little will continue to act decisively to uphold the law and protect Idaho families.”

Idaho State Police didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

DUIs a common charge listed by the Governor’s Office

Most of the men who did have verified convictions had minor or nonviolent offenses. One of the most common charges were driving under the influence.

Seven men still had pending misdemeanor charges, not convictions, and most of them were DUIs. Five of those men were facing a sole DUI charge, with no prior history of a crime.

DUIs are such a common offense that several state leaders, current and former — including U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and former Gov. Butch Otter — have been convicted of a driving under the influence and continued to work in elected office. Two dozen people were booked into the Ada County Jail on suspicion of a DUI in the past five days.

Nearly half of the cases of the men the state of Idaho said it helped deport that were verified through court records were misdemeanor crimes, which aren’t punishable by more than a year in county jail, though that includes five misdemeanor cases of violent offenses, such as battery.

One 24-year-old man who was taken to ICE facility with help from the state had only infractions for failing to have a driver's license and insurance. Court records showed he had no criminal record in Idaho.

Felony charges dismissed because of ICE detention

Of the 43 the Statesman was able to find criminal backgrounds for, eight faced violent felony charges such as attempted strangulation, lewd conduct with a child, burglary and aggravated assault. But in three of those cases, the felony charges were dropped.

In at least two other cases, their immigration violations prompted prosecutors to dismiss charges of those felony crimes.

One Mexican national had his felony charge of controlled possession dropped, with the prosecutor’s office mentioning that he had a pending “order for deportation” in their request to dismiss his case.

Another man, a Colombian citizen, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug trafficking heroin, but the case was dismissed at the request of the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office to allow him to “return to his home country,” according to a motion to dismiss. It added that dropping the case would be a “more effective use of resources.”

“This case can subsequently be refiled with a warrant so that, should the defendant return to the U.S., he will have a warrant for his arrest,” the motion read.

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