OPINION: Raul Labrador’s reelection campaign misfires on immigration, again

Idaho's Attorney General told us on March 31 that he was 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. Even the rightward-leaning Supreme Court did not buy Labrador's frivolous argument. It was a crushing loss, but we heard nothing from him about it, nor have we learned 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 violence.

It may be difficult for local authorities to prosecute ICE agents who perpetrate violent acts against immigrants so long as Donald Trump controls the U.S. Department of Justice. However, once a new president is elected in 2028, a new administration may be able to bring the perpetrators to justice. ICE thugs should take heed!

Labrador is misreading the mood of the public on the brutal tactics of ICE. We were told 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.

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 …” Undocumented folks do not qualify for such benefits, but they do contribute substantially to 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 badmouthing the people who help put food on your table. Everyone in Idaho deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

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Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He also publishes at substack.com/@jjcommontater.