Delegate Charlie Schmidt’s bill HB1482 prevents law enforcement officers from wearing masks outside the context of a public health emergency, addressing and restricting a common tactic used by ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agencies. Delegate Alfonso Lopez’s bill HB1441 restricts anyone acting in a law enforcement role from cooperating with any federal immigration agency or facilitating immigration enforcement unless accompanied by a judicial warrant. This bill prohibits state and local law enforcement officials from being forcibly deputized into carrying out ICE’s work in Virginia and allows departments to prioritize public safety and retaining community trust.

“Our community has been clear that we expect law enforcement to operate in the open and within the bounds of the Constitution, not acting as a secret federal police force,” said Ashleigh Crocker, Interim Executive Director at Progress Virginia. “ICE agents have repeatedly shown they are willing to push legal limits and trample basic human rights. These aggressive tactics have fueled fear and chaos rather than public safety and further eroded our community’s trust in law enforcement. These bills ensure that state and local officials cannot be compelled to carry out federal immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant and prevent the use of masked enforcement tactics that intimidate families and sow widespread fear and distrust. Today’s vote moves us closer to a Commonwealth where public safety agencies can focus on their core mission and where every family, regardless of their immigration status, can feel safe in their neighborhood. We look forward to seeing it get through the Senate and to the Governor’s desk.”

Background:

• A brief explainer on 287g agreements and how/where they are used (287g agreements are cooperation agreements between localities and federal immigration law enforcement agencies.)
• On Feb. 27, 2025, then-Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order requiring that all state law enforcement to enter into 287g agreements with ICE, which mandated cooperation on immigration enforcement.
• Immediately upon being sworn into office, Governor Spanberger rescinded Youngkin’s executive order on 287g agreements, but stopped short of requiring state agencies to end those agreements; instead, the language was permissive, allowing agencies to maintain agreements at their discretion.
• As of February 4, 2026, she ordered state agencies to terminate those agreements.
• The agencies affected by the Governor’s decision to terminate 287g agreements are the Virginia State Police, Virginia Department of Corrections, Virginia Conservation Police, and Virginia Marine Police.
• New reporting from the Legal Aid Justice Center shows that 32 local communities have entered into 287g agreements with ICE. These agreements, many of which are kept secret from the public, are made between local law enforcement agencies, school resource officers, and in one case, a school behavior specialist.
• A recent Marist poll shows that 65% of Americans believe that ICE has gone too far with its enforcement tactics.
• A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that 61% of Americans are opposed to ICE agents wearing masks to obscure their identities.