(The Lion) — Just hours after Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill making it a crime to be in the state without legal U.S. citizenship or other permission, a judge issued a temporary restraining order, blocking its enforcement for at least 14 days.

Little, a Republican, signed HB 83 Thursday, making it illegal to enter or re-enter the state without U.S. citizenship or legal right to be in the country. While immigration is federally enforced, Idaho wants local law enforcement to partner in efforts to remove illegal immigrants who commit other crimes.

But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) promptly sued, and a federal judge granted the temporary injunction.

U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford said the law was “likely unconstitutional” and banned the state from enforcing it for 14 days until hearings can be held, the Idaho Statesman reported. 

The civil liberties group argues the law is unconstitutional because it usurps federal authority over immigration, restricts interstate commerce and places undue burdens on the public, CBS Idaho reports.

Civil rights activists are challenging a similar law in Texas that makes it a crime to cross into that state illegally, although the Trump administration just withdrew the federal government from the legal challenge. A federal court there has blocked the law since it was approved in 2023, although the matter is still pending in court.

“Courts in other states who have passed these laws have agreed with our legal argument, and we expect the court to do so here,” Paul Carlos Southwick, Idaho ACLU legal director, said in a press conference, reported the Idaho Capitol Sun.

“Every other court to have considered similar laws, including conservative federal appellate courts, have stopped laws like this one from going into effect,” he said, referring to laws in Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma.

But Little and Republican lawmakers in Idaho say their intention was for the bill to help local law enforcement cooperate in the removal of criminal illegal migrants, not necessarily pursue undocumented workers who are in the state.

“This is to get people in the system who are criminals. That is who we are most concerned about as a nation and as a state,” Rep. Bruce Skaug said when the bill was first introduced.

Other lawmakers said it would act as a “deterrent” for more migrants to come and make “Idaho an undesirable place for people who are here in country illegally,” Idaho Statesman reported, quoting two state senators.

Idaho House Republicans lauded Little for signing the Idaho ICE Act, saying it would “support the Trump administration in deporting criminal illegal aliens.

“No surprise that the ACLU, which opposes any efforts to combat illegal immigration, is already trying to stop it!”

Lawmakers are considering an additional proposal that would bar illegal immigrants from receiving state or local public benefits, except in some emergency situations, the Statesman reports.

That measure, HB 135, passed the House this month and is now before the Senate, which has until the Legislature adjourns on April 4 to act on it.