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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has proposed changes to immigration-enforcement bills introduced by Fairfax County state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, prompting the Democratic senator to warn that two of the measures would become “toothless.”
Salim’s bills seek to limit federal immigration enforcement at certain protected locations, prohibit law enforcement officers from concealing their faces and end state and local agreements that assist federal civil immigration enforcement.
The legislation emerged amid intensifying opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations under President Donald Trump. That opposition has included a response to two fatal shootings of protesters in Minnesota. As of Tuesday, 47 people had died in ICE custody since Trump began his second term in January 2025.
Courthouse enforcement provisions narrowed
SB 351 and its House companion, HB 650, would restrict federal immigration enforcement at places including schools, polling locations, hospitals and other health care facilities unless officers possess valid judicial warrants.
As approved by the General Assembly, the legislation also barred civil arrests—including immigration arrests—inside courthouses unless an officer provided identification, a judicial warrant authorized by a judge or court, and an explanation of why entry was needed to make the arrest.
Courthouse police and security personnel would have been prohibited from admitting anyone who failed to satisfy those requirements. Violations would have constituted contempt of court, punishable in Virginia by a fine of up to $250 or as many as 10 days in jail. The attorney general also would have been authorized to pursue civil action against violators.
Spanberger’s substitute adds state and local courthouses to a protected-locations list that includes schools, health care facilities, polling places and commonwealth’s attorney offices. Those protections require a judicial warrant but omit the original bill’s additional courthouse conditions.
Her changes also remove the section establishing penalties for prohibited arrests. The substitute instead addresses qualified-immunity claims and gives people two years to file civil lawsuits over violations.
Mask mandate penalties removed
SB 352 and HB 1482 would prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, subject to health and safety exceptions included in the legislation.
Spanberger’s substitute eliminates a Class 1 misdemeanor for violating that prohibition. It also removes requirements that officers display identifying information and the name of their agency while performing their duties.
Salim said the amendments fail to provide the protections his legislation was designed to establish.
“I am deeply concerned about the amendments to SB351 and SB352 because they fall short of the urgent need to protect immigrant communities and uphold basic principles of fairness, dignity, and public safety,” Salim said. “These bills were meant to draw a clear line against abuse, fear, and unnecessary cruelty. The amendments would make the bills toothless, a right without a remedy.”
Salim did not immediately comment on the governor’s amendments to SB 783 and companion HB 1441, which would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from entering agreements to help enforce federal civil immigration laws.
The Senate amendment’s text was not yet available online. In the House version, Spanberger replaced an exception covering transfers of adults convicted of violent felonies from prisons and jails with language covering any adult subject to a judicial warrant. The General Assembly-approved bills already allowed transfers based on judicial warrants or subpoenas.
Separately, Spanberger signed two bills without amendments guaranteeing access to K-12 public education regardless of a child’s or parents’ immigration status. Fairfax County state Sen. Stella Pekarsky introduced the Senate measure, SB 491. The U.S. Supreme Court has already established a federal right to public education regardless of immigration status.
“No student should be denied the right to an education, and no student should fear going to school because they are scared of being disappeared by ICE,” Pekarsky said. “This is an extremely important measure that will ensure ICE cannot freely access students’ information and school property without a judicial warrant.”