In the wake of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration, Democrats in Virginia are looking to limit Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions when they come to the Commonwealth.
Federal immigration enforcement may get more complicated in Virginia if a group of bills passed in a House of Delegates committee Friday morning get signed into law.
The five bills are now headed to the chamber floor. One limits where ICE can detain people, including courthouses and other public locations. Another bans law enforcement from wearing masks and requires they identify themselves in most cases. Another limits local police from aiding ICE unless they have a judicial warrant. One more makes new penalties for impersonating federal agents and the last one empowers the attorney general’s office to punish those who try to scam migrants.
Immigration advocate Paulina Chavez highlighted the need for such bills at Friday morning's Public Safety committee meeting through a translator.
“It’s affecting many families, even the children as when the parents see police they say, ‘oh no, this could be immigration.’" Chavez said. "And it’s affecting their children's access to school, to education, to food even.”
Public safety committee Chair Delegate Marcus Simon said the bills still had some work to go, and agreement with senate versions, before they hit Governor Abigail Spanberger’s desk.
But immigration advocates like Luis Aguilar with CASA said it was a step in the right direction.
“In a time when we have seen federal enforcement, specifically ICE, really terrorize communities, we have seen state legislators notice this, draft legislation and advance it forward,” Aguilar told Radio IQ.
The bills passed along party lines in most cases, though the scam prevention bill had nearly unanimous support with only one Republican voting no.
