Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Statement on ‘Uncertain Times’ Is Latest Stir in Immigration Discourse

For years, Kootenai County Sheriff Robert “Bob” Norris has talked about immigration.

To allay what he sees as fears of “uncertain times,” he issued a vague press release earlier this month encouraging people to call law enforcement if they see anything suspicious.

“Millions of illegal border crossers. Two assassination attempts against a presidential candidate,” said the press release on sheriff’s office letterhead. “…I have asked your Sheriff’s Office to deploy additional resources to ensure peace is maintained and for a quicker response if this occurs in our community…If you see anything suspicious, please do not hesitate to call law enforcement.

This statement is not the first time the sheriff has raised the burning issue of border security. Some people on Facebook wondered if this was some sort of political stunt to get re-elected. Others wondered what “deploy additional resources” meant.

Norris dismissed the criticism: “How could this be related to the campaign when I’m posting something to make them feel safe?” » he said.

“It’s a statement that instills fear,” said Kate Bitz, an organizer and program manager at the Western States Center, a nonprofit that supports communities organizing around social justice issues. “One thing we have learned since the 2020 election cycle is that specific messaging is essential to keeping everyone safe and easing tensions. »

Norris told the Spokesman-Review last week that part of the reason for issuing the statement was the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, as well as a statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent on Oct. 2 indicating the threat of domestic and foreign terrorism “remains elevated” during anniversary-style events.

The statement was vague, Norris said, because he wanted to “raise the level of awareness.” That involved taking people in non-essential positions and sending them “out into the field” to show a greater presence in the community, he said.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jeffrey Howard said people who do not come to work in uniform must now come to work in uniform in case possible political unrest requires a quick response.

“When people have understandable fears about political violence, I always ask for clarification,” Bitz said. “What might people consider suspicious?” What are good reasons to call the sheriff’s department? What are the current voter intimidation laws? What could they call it? What I see here is just a very generalized statement. This does not contribute to a calm atmosphere.

Although Norris has contributed to political and immigration discourse — in YouTube videos, in podcasts, even — the conversation isn’t always relevant to North Idaho.

At numerous events and meetings, Norris wastes no time bringing up the subject of illegal immigration or people entering the country in violation of national law.

His statements can be quite opaque.

In an event posted on his campaign page, he associated Spanish speakers with being “illegal,” which seemed largely unchecked by community members, who then encouraged him.

“When someone uses the word ‘border smugglers’ or ‘illegals,’ people think of Mexico. They’re speaking to our population,” said Margie Gonzalez, executive director of the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs. “Not everyone who enters the United States comes illegally, and we are not all criminals. »

In Norris’ video posted on his campaign website, he tells the crowd: “I believe we are impacted by illegal immigration, and primarily from the southern border. »

In an interview last week, Norris told The Spokesman-Review something different, which was that he thought people were relatively safe in North Idaho.

“Are we experiencing this influx of illegal immigration here? he said. “No. (…) But it’s something we need to be aware of.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows the agency has had 143 “encounters” in Idaho this year with people attempting to cross a border without prior authorization. Of these, 42% were Canadian citizens. Only seven people who could be classified as “Hispanic” by the U.S. Census have encountered Border Patrol this year.

This year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 143 “encounters” in Idaho with people attempting to cross a border without prior authorization. According to the agency, five people of that total were Mexican citizens. Sixty people were Canadian.

A 2024 report from the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs also shows that Latinos in North Idaho were more likely to be born in the United States. People living in south-central Idaho are more likely to be born outside the United States.

In a separate interview Friday, Norris said law enforcement was having “more contact with illegal immigration” but then said there was no increase in crime associated with it . He said in the video that lawmakers need Spanish translators about once a month, and now they need them every week.

In a typical month, two or three people are jailed in Kootenai County because of their immigration status, according to a Coeur d’Alene Press report. Most are not arrested in the county or state of Idaho, but rather in Washington and are being held in the Kootenai County Jail awaiting transfer to a federal facility.

But even if there hasn’t been an increase in criminal cases, Norris said the fact that his deputies are encountering more Spanish-speaking people “is an indicator that it’s going to happen.”

“That’s where people make mistakes,” Gonzalez said. “I tell everyone that if you put me in a lineup with someone from Canada who has blonde hair and blue eyes and told them to pick someone ‘illegal,’ they would choose me. And I didn’t break any laws.

In 2017, researchers from California, Alabama, New York and Virginia conducted a 20-year study of immigration and its relationship to crime. The study found that in U.S. metropolitan areas, murders, robberies, burglaries and larceny decreased as immigration increased. The only non-impact criminal charge was aggravated assault, the study found.

The sheriff’s office also issued a previous press release on August 26, touting its partnership with the U.S. Border Patrol in apprehending an Indian man at the fair. Norris brought it up as “an example” of illegal immigration in North Idaho, he said.

A caller reported the man was photographing children “and appeared to be a foreign national,” Norris said. According to the release, officers never developed probable cause to arrest him and he was never charged with a crime.

Instead, the man was turned over to Border Patrol, who then turned him over to ICE. The release ended with the sheriff’s office telling its citizens that they were working to “resolve the problems of illegal immigrants in the country.”

Norris spoke momentarily Tuesday about the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures and also protects people from arrest without probable cause.

“If someone is here illegally, do I think I should go and contact them and detain them? Or Border Patrol or some other entity? Yes, I do,” he said. “But that’s not what the law says.”

The sheriff’s press release stands out among other Kootenai County Sheriff’s releases. Most news releases dealing with immigration ask people to report suspicious behavior or that Kootenai County is not a place for “illegal immigration.”

But Kootenai County is not an immigration center: 99.1% of Kootenai County residents are U.S. citizens in 2022, according to U.S. Census data, and less than 6% of the county’s residents are Latino .

The data also shows that 2.16 percent of the county’s residents are foreign-born. Most of these people come from Canada and some from Russia.

According to data released this month by the US Department of Homeland Security, migrant “encounters” at the country’s border have steadily declined since the start of the year.

Despite this, Norris says his constituents are concerned about immigration. In January, he recalled a gun show where people asked him if he could “do something” about Russian-speaking and suspected “illegals,” according to a Coeur d’Alene article. Press.

Rebecca De León, a spokeswoman for ACLU Idaho, said immigrants already face obstacles when coming to the United States to improve their lives.

Racially profiling someone who works for law enforcement, or profiling people who speak a different language, is an abuse of power, she said.

“What the sheriff did was actively engage in scare tactics targeting only a small percentage of the community in his jurisdiction, without any evidence of a problem,” De León said. “This does not create safety, but rather promotes fear and racial profiling…Rather than being a good neighbor, the Kootenai County Sheriff has instead decided to target and vilify this population.” »

Norris always stands by his opinions. He testified this year before the Idaho Legislature in favor of a bill similar to Texas’s, which would allow local police to arrest illegal immigrants without U.S. papers. He also holds numerous community meetings to talk to citizens about immigration and other topics, including gun rights, human trafficking and “sexually explicit books.”

“I’m a proactive sheriff,” Norris said Friday. “I will continue to testify in Boise at legislative hearings to strengthen Idaho’s illegal immigration laws.”

Gonzalez, who maintains she still isn’t seeing a huge increase in North Idaho’s Latino immigrants, said it’s important to note that nonwhite people “aren’t just immigrants “. They are also doctors, nurses, lawyers and engineers.

“And they’re not going anywhere.” There are so many things we can bring to a community…Individuals who believe that all people of color are undocumented are crossing that line of racism,” she said. “I would appreciate the opportunity to sit down with him someday to have a civil conversation to help me understand.” Maybe he could understand.