What Alexandria's legislators are doing on immigration enforcement
Lopez carrying four bills in statewide Democratic package
As federal agents detained a 5-year-old in Minnesota and two U.S. citizens were shot dead by immigration officers in Minneapolis this month, Virginia Democrats rolled out a package of bills to restrict federal enforcement in the commonwealth.
Del. Alfonso Lopez is carrying four of the bills. Lopez, who represents parts of Alexandria and Arlington, stood with House leadership at a Capitol press conference on Wednesday to announce legislation that would create “protected areas” around schools and hospitals, require judicial warrants for local police cooperation with ICE, and bar immigration enforcement within 40 feet of polling places.
“Public safety includes protecting the most fundamental right in a democracy, the right to vote without fear,” Lopez told reporters, according to the Virginia Mercury. “What we have seen from ICE agents is intimidation.”
Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker has signed onto 10 immigration-related bills as co-patron, including Lopez’s package and measures to ban 287(g) agreements, restrict courthouse arrests, and protect K-12 students regardless of immigration status. In a constituent newsletter on Thursday, she wrote that “masked, armed, and unaccountable agents of the Trump regime cannot simply murder or kidnap them or their neighbors.”
Both voted to table HB 993, a bill that would have ended Virginia’s driver privilege card program. The motion passed 6-4 in the subcommittee.
Sen. Adam Ebbin, who resigns Feb. 18, co-sponsored bills requiring law enforcement officers to show their faces during operations. He also submitted a $200,000 budget amendment for trafficking victim services.
House Majority Leader Charniele Herring is not listed as a patron or co-patron on any of the immigration enforcement bills filed this session.
The national backdrop
The legislative push comes after a month of deadly confrontations in Minneapolis.
Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed Jan. 7 by an ICE agent who fired into her vehicle. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed Jan. 24 by Border Patrol agents. His parents told the Associated Press he had a permit to carry his firearm and no criminal record.
Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos became a national story when photos showed him in a blue bunny hat being taken by agents outside his family’s home. He and his father, who have a pending asylum case, were sent to a detention facility in Texas, the AP reported.
Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, invoked both deaths at Wednesday’s press conference: “Alex Pretti, a VA hospital ICU nurse, was just trying to help a woman who’d been knocked to the ground, he was shot in the back 10 times by federal agents.”
What the bills would do
HB 1440 (Lopez): Prohibits federal immigration enforcement in “protected areas” — hospitals, schools, commonwealth’s attorney offices.
HB 1441 (Lopez): Restricts state and local police from assisting ICE without a judicial warrant, subpoena or detainer.
HB 1442 (Lopez): Bars immigration enforcement within 40 feet of polling places or recount sites.
HB 650 (Callsen): Restricts civil arrests in courthouses.
HB 1438 (Guzman): Bans 287(g) agreements. Existing agreements must terminate by Sept. 1.
HB 7/SB 352 (Jones/Salim): Prohibits law enforcement from wearing facial coverings during operations.
Senate companion bills from Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, D-Fairfax, advanced in committee Wednesday.
Republican response
Republican leaders pushed back on the Democratic proposals, arguing the focus should remain on economic issues rather than challenging federal immigration enforcement.
House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, told the Virginia Mercury on Jan. 28: “Virginia has absolutely no say in what the federal government is doing.”
Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, said Democrats are straying from an affordability agenda that leaders in both parties have identified as a top priority. “That should be the focus,” McDougle told the Virginia Mercury. “Not political games like gerrymandering, not political games like fighting with D.C.”
Alexandria delegation
Here’s where each Alexandria legislator stands on immigration bills this session:
Lopez: 4 bills as chief patron, 3 as co-patron
Bennett-Parker: 10 bills as co-patron
Ebbin: 2 bills as co-patron, $200,000 budget amendment
Herring: No immigration bills or budget items
Lopez’s bills remain in subcommittee. The Feb. 10 special elections for Senate District 39 and House District 5 will determine whether Democrats maintain their current margins.
Sources: Virginia Legislative Information System, Virginia Mercury, Associated Press, CBS News