Immigration

Prohibiting certain acts in furtherance of federal immigration enforcement in certain protected areas; exceptions; penalties. Prohibits certain federal civil immigration enforcement activities in certain protected areas including any courthouse, within 40 feet of any polling place or building used as a meeting place for the local electoral board while the electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an election, and any place or facility owned by the Commonwealth that is a hospital or other health care facility, a school or public institution of higher education, or an office of the attorney for the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits any civil arrest in a courthouse pursuant to a civil administrative warrant, subject to certain exceptions such as service or enforcement of an order for failure to pay child support or for any arrest occurring in connection with a court proceeding that is taking place or is scheduled to take place. The bill provides that such provisions shall not apply when such arrest is authorized by a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena. The bill also authorizes a local school board to include in its written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan a procedure for notifying school board employees and parents of enrolled students of the presence of certain individuals on school property for immigration investigation or enforcement purposes. The bill requires each public institution of higher education to adopt a policy that requires an individual present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in an investigation or enforcement of any federal immigration law to present a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena before accessing any nonpublic area of the campus. This bill is identical to HB 650.

Prohibiting certain acts in furtherance of federal immigration enforcement in certain protected areas; exceptions; penalties. Prohibits certain federal civil immigration enforcement activities in certain protected areas including any courthouse, within 40 feet of any polling place or building used as a meeting place for the local electoral board while the electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an election, and any place or facility owned by the Commonwealth that is a hospital or other health care facility, a school or public institution of higher education, or an office of the attorney for the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits any civil arrest in a courthouse pursuant to a civil administrative warrant, subject to certain exceptions such as service or enforcement of an order for failure to pay child support or for any arrest occurring in connection with a court proceeding that is taking place or is scheduled to take place. The bill provides that such provisions shall not apply when such arrest is authorized by a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena.The bill also authorizes a local school board to include in its written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan a procedure for notifying school board employees and parents of enrolled students of the presence of certain individuals on school property for immigration investigation or enforcement purposes. The bill requires each public institution of higher education to adopt a policy that requires an individual present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in an investigation or enforcement of any federal immigration law to present a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena before accessing any nonpublic area of the campus. This bill incorporates HB 1260, HB 1265, HB 1440, and HB 1442 and is identical to SB 351.

State agency administration of federal funds; eligibility determination exemption for nonprofit organizations. Prohibits a state agency responsible for the administration of federal funds from imposing a requirement on a nonprofit charitable organization providing a federal public benefit to determine, verify, or otherwise require proof of eligibility of any applicant for such benefits.

Superintendent of Public Instruction; reverse certain recent actions and restore certain rescinded resources. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to reverse all actions previously taken by the Superintendent of Public Instruction on or after January 15, 2022, pursuant to the then-current Governor's Executive Order One of January 15, 2022, to rescind certain policies, programs, and resources that promoted cultural competency, encouraged inclusion and belonging, educated about the history of slavery and the civil rights movement, and continued work to combat racism in the Commonwealth and to restore all such policies, programs, and resources, including the Department of Education's EdEquityVA website and all included and associated resources and certain other enumerated resources, including certain Superintendent's memos.

Virginia Human Rights Act; equal credit opportunities; Virginia Fair Housing Law; nondiscrimination by automated decision systems. Provides that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person to deploy, use, or rely on an automated decision system to make a decision pursuant to the Virginia Human Rights Act, provisions related to equal credit opportunities, or the Virginia Fair Housing Law that results in discrimination or an unlawful disparate impact or that intentionally or knowingly uses variables or data fields that serve as close proxies for protected characteristics. The bill requires a person that deploys, uses, or relies on such a system to (i) disclose the use of such system to any individual who is the subject of such decision; (ii) annually assess such system for bias, disparate impact, and discriminatory outcomes; and (iii) maintain for no fewer than two years from the date a decision is made certain documentation relating to such system.

Public institutions of higher education; tuition and mandatory fees charged to Virginia students. Provides that, notwithstanding any provision of the general appropriation act, law, regulation, or policy to the contrary, (i) for the purpose of state support for Virginia students at public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, all fees associated with essential student services, including fees for student health services, student immigration services, and student technology services, shall be considered part of the tuition and mandatory education and general fees charged to such students and (ii) no public institution of higher education shall annually increase the total of all mandatory non-education and general fees charged to Virginia students by more than three percent of the total of such fees charged to Virginia students for the immediately preceding academic year.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); qualifications of voters; United States citizenship. Proposes an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia to clarify that a person who has not obtained United States citizenship either at birth or through naturalization is not qualified to vote.

Administration of government; language access equity; report. Requires each public-facing state agency, defined in the bill, to designate a language access coordinator who will be responsible for the agency's annual language access report, the requirements of which are set out in the bill. The Secretary of Health and Human Resources is directed to establish criteria for state agencies to procure language interpretation and translation services and to establish a policy for compensating multilingual state employees who are required as part of their job to provide interpretation, translation, or other bilingual skills at least once a month.

Public schools; right to free public elementary and secondary education; discrimination based on immigration status prohibited; civil cause of action. Prohibits any child in the Commonwealth from being denied a free public education through secondary school on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents, in accordance with the Constitution of Virginia and consistent with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The bill also, among other things, prohibits any school board, public elementary or secondary school, school resource officer employed by a local law-enforcement agency in any public elementary or secondary school, or any individual who is an employee, contractor, or agent of a school board from engaging in certain enumerated actions and practices that involve or result in the denial of a free public education, or denial of the benefits or exclusion from participation in any program or activity thereof, of a child on the basis of the actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status of the child or the child's parents. The bill establishes a civil cause of action for violations of the foregoing prohibitions. The bill requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General, to develop and make available to each school board by August 1, 2026, guidance and resources on developing policies and procedures to implement the requirements set forth in the bill and requires each school board to develop and implement by December 31, 2026, such policies and procedures and to require each public elementary and secondary school principal and administrator in the school division to complete training on compliance with the provisions of the bill as soon as is practicable but not later than the beginning of the 2027–2028 school year, consistent with the guidance and resources developed and made available by the Department of Education. This bill is identical to HB 836.

Migrant labor camp permits; expiration. Removes the annual December 31 expiration date for all issued migrant labor camp permits and provides that such permits expire 12 months from the date of issuance.