A southwestern Idaho probation officer is facing scrutiny for forwarding information about foreign-born criminals to federal immigration authorities.
The Canyon County probation office has been exchanging emails with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers regarding their foreign-born criminal clients, according to InvestigateWest.
“[T]he probation department … recently coordinated with ICE’s Boise office, including by combing through its case files to compile a list for ICE of foreign-born people on probation, apparently without validating that those people are in the country illegally,” the outlet reported.
Immigration attorneys and advocates expressed concern to the outlet that this list could lead to green card holders, immigrants with valid asylum claims, and even naturalized citizens being detained by ICE.
Note that border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly stressed that any U.S. citizens detained by ICE will be promptly released once their identities are confirmed:
Tom Homan on ICE detaining U.S. citizens:
“If they have reasonable suspicion to stop and question somebody…they can stop. I think there’s been zero U.S. citizens that have been detained?…Soon as that questioning is over they’d be released”
pic.twitter.com/sAtefByULH— Lucas Sanders 👊🏽🔥🇺🇸 (@LucasSa56947288) December 7, 2025
That said, Alycia Moss, an immigration attorney with Fennemore Law in Coeur d’Alene, warned that ICE sometimes gets things wrong.
“ICE may still target someone if they think the conviction is a deportable or removal offense even if they [have legal] status,” she said. “Sometimes, ICE doesn’t get that right.”
She wasn’t entirely wrong.
“In Oregon, ICE agents arrested Juanita Avila, a 47-year-old legal permanent resident, last November,” InvestigateWest reported. “Last July, ICE agents also arrested and detained Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old father who was married to a U.S. citizen and had a pending green card application, while he was dropping his child off at preschool in the Portland area.”
Jeff Breach, the director of the county’s Misdemeanor Probation Department, defended the lists by noting that ICE has typically requested them “on an annual basis and across administrations.”
Steve Cushman, the director of constituent services for Canyon County, added that although he didn’t know exactly when “those lists were first requested and provided,” it was his “understanding that it goes back as far as the Obama administration.”
In addition, this isn’t the first time the media has rushed to make an issue out of the lists. In 2019, the Idaho Press ran a similar report warning that the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office was notifying ICE about “all foreign born inmates” who were booked into the local jail.
This is the same sheriff’s office that’s facing a lawsuit from the “woke” ACLU for raiding a horse-racing event full of illegal aliens last year.
A massive, militarized raid on a community horse-racing event near Boise, Idaho in October left children crying, families zip-tied, and a community shaken over five non-violent gambling arrests. Parents say kids were threatened at gunpoint and detained for hours, while officials… pic.twitter.com/Aho4UVUjdR
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 11, 2026
InvestigateWest managed to obtain a redacted version of the probation office’s list. It contained 82 people, only seven of whom had active ICE holds.
“Over half, or 54%, of the people on the list were on probation because of driving under the influence,” according to the outlet. “Five people were on probation for drug-related crimes and nine people for disturbing the peace.”
Illegal aliens are evidently notorious for driving drunk.
Imagine how many illegal aliens are driving drunk on our highways and streets right now placing others in danger. Do @CA_Dem care? No, they encourage it. Pathetic. @GavinNewsom @RobBonta @XavierBecerra https://t.co/egAWZ2G8sW
— Cartel California (@Cartel_Cal) August 4, 2026
Breach told InvestigateWest that within the past three months, ICE agents have “been present” at a couple of probation appointments.
“All the law enforcement agencies we work with prefer to meet with offenders up in the office due to it being a controlled environment, which means it is safer for the offender, the officer, and the public,” he said.
“There is an expectation from law enforcement agencies and the public that probation officers work cooperatively with law enforcement to ensure the safety of all parties involved,” he added.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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