Immigrant protection bills pass Virginia House, move to Senate

A group of Virginia House of Delegates bills that grant protections from immigration enforcement and civil arrests are now under consideration in the Senate.

HB 650, introduced by Del. Katrina Callsen, D-Charlottesville, passed the House 63-35 on Thursday. The legislation incorporates four bills tightening United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in Virginia. The bill grants protection in areas including schools, hospitals and courthouses. 

The bill comes after the Department of Homeland Security reversed prior safe haven policies on protected areas starting in January 2025.  In the first seven months of the year, ICE made 4,264 arrests in Virginia — a number that spiked nearly three times from arrests in 2024. Gov. Abigail Spanberger dissolved agreements between state law enforcement and ICE earlier this month. 

The bill requires a judicial warrant or subpoena before immigration enforcement can enter any protected area, which includes preschools, primary and secondary schools, trade or vocational schools and public colleges and universities. 

Shelsy Delgado, a community organizer at the Virginia-based non-profit Legal Aid Justice Center, has worked closely with immigrant families amid the recent spike in arrests made by ICE. She recalled the fear that families have in sending their children to school. 

“With the changes that happened in 2025, we saw there was a need in the community for people to understand what was happening, understand the barriers that they had in the issues and also correct some misconceptions about what they have the right to do and the right to access,” she said. 

Alongside LAJC’s immigrant justice team, Delgado organized Know Your Rights sessions which are designed to make legal rights accessible and understandable to children and parents. 

LAJC worked with Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and Sen. Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax, to draft legislation which would guarantee any child, regardless of immigration status, the right to free public education. The Senate bill passed on Friday and its corresponding bill is in the House. 

The non-profit has also voiced public support for similar bills, such HB 1260, which was incorporated into the bills in the Senate. 

“We’re in an administration that, in the past month, has changed a lot of Virginia’s policies regarding interactions with ICE,” Delgado said in reference to Spanberger’s recent executive order. “But we also know that things can change based off of who’s in power, and we want to make sure that these things are codified in place.” 

The merged bill would also allow school boards, and require public colleges and universities, to include procedures on notifying employees, parents and students of ICE presence on property. 

Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond do not have procedures to notify students, faculty or staff of external law enforcement presence, according to emails from university authorities. 

During the House session on Thursday, Del. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, expressed concern with the bill’s language in prohibiting immigration enforcement in public schools. 

“I’m afraid of the unintended consequences, I’ll be honest,” Wilt said during the session. “Will it happen? I don’t know. But are we willing to take that chance?” 

Wilt added: “Are we willing to create a situation where people, that are untrained, unqualified in the heat of a potential moment, are willing to inject themselves into a situation?” 

The bill specifically prohibits any employee or law enforcement officer in protected areas to knowingly permit any person with intent of operation into a non-public area. The bill would not prevent law enforcement from entering a protected area without a warrant in exigent circumstances. 

As an immigrant herself, this bill hits Delgado close to home, she said. Through her work as an advocate, she tries to understand the barriers that immigrant communities face in accessing education and knowing legal rights. 

“The one thing that we’re really trying to emphasize is that this is a matter of supporting our young people and their families,” she said. “Regardless of what your background is, regardless of whether you are documented or not, you are a child and you should be allowed to have access to education without any fear of immigration enforcement.” 

HB 650 is scheduled to go to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee next.