Legislation of Specific Application to Immigrant Communities by Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, CG2 Consulting

The Center thanks Virginia's leading authority on immigrant-focused legislation, Clair Guthrie Gastañaga for her work on these bills.

Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking Act or Human Anti-Trafficking Act. These bills are, for the most part, based on model legislation advocated by the US Justice Department and immigrant advocacy groups. Of all the bills, Delegate Ebbin’s is the most comprehensive and would require the establishment of an interdisciplinary task force to review law enforcement issues and services needs. Delegates Griffith and Lingamfelter require the Office of the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to file reports on such matters.

Law Enforcement

Stop and ID
HB 25 (Wright, R)
Temporary custodial detention of a person; penalty. As introduced, this bill would go farther than stop and ID bills killed in the House and Senate Courts committees last year. The bill would authorize temporary detention when a police officer has reason belief that a person has committed or is about to commit a crime and makes it a misdemeanor to refuse to identify yourself to a police officer when stopped. This bill has special impact on the undocumented community where disclosure of one’s name may incriminate one in a violation of immigration laws.

The criminal law subcommittee is discussing changes to make the bill address only giving false information to police rather than no information.

HB 342 (Sherwood, R Winchester)
Temporary custodial detention of a person; penalty. This bill is identical to Delegate Wright’s bill.

Other Law Enforcement Issues

HB 157 (Ward, D Newport News)
Virginia Biased-Based Policing and Traffic Statistics Reporting Act. Proposed by the Virginia Organizing Project, this bill requires the Department of State Police to develop a statewide database for collecting, correlating, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data and information generated related to certain traffic stops. Local police officers and police officers of the Department of State Police would be required to collect information pertaining to traffic stops, including the race, ethnicity, color, age, and gender of the alleged traffic offender, and to record the specific reason for the stop, whether the person was interrogated, charged, or arrested, and whether a written citation or warning was issued. Police officers also would be required to indicate the specific traffic violation allegedly committed. Police officers participating in the collection of such traffic data and information are granted civil immunity for acts and omissions during the performance of their official duties, absent gross negligence or willful misconduct.

HB 487 (Frederick, R Prince William)
Department of State Police; immigration laws. This bill requires the Department of State Police to enter into an agreement with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would allow them to enforce civil immigration laws.

HB 592 (Lohr, R Harrisonburg)
Law-enforcement officers; language programs. This bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to advise and assist law-enforcement agencies in developing programs and incentives to encourage law-enforcement officers to learn languages in addition to English, including allocating funds for such programs and incentives.

HB 1046 (Reid, R Henrico)
Reporting alleged juvenile illegal alien delinquents to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. This legislation requires juvenile intake officers to report to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency a juvenile who is the subject of a petition alleging he committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult and who has also been found to be in the United States illegally. The report shall include the nature of the offense alleged to have been committed.

Voting and Civil Rights

HB 61 (Albo, R Springfield)
Elections; voter registration; duties of State Board of Elections. This would add a provision to the law under which the State Board requires local registrars to remove voters' names from the registered voter lists in appropriate cases a requirement to delete the names of voters who are not United States citizens. The bill specifies that the Board will institute procedures to implement the requirements set out in the section.

HB 170 (Lingamfelter, R Woodbridge)
Elections; voter registration; citizenship status. This bill has the same objective as Delegate Albo’s bill. It would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to furnish monthly lists to the State Board of Elections of license applicants who indicate a non-citizen status on their applications, and directs the State Board to forward the information to the general registrars. Non-citizen status constitutes grounds for canceling a person's voter registration.

SB 444 (Devolites Davis, R Vienna)
Marriage license; proof of citizenship. This would requires the circuit court clerk issuing any marriage license to ensure that each of the parties contemplating marriage provide, under oath, valid documentary evidence that each of the applicants is either (i) a citizen of the United States, (ii) a legal permanent resident of the United States, or (iii) a conditional resident alien of the United States. An original license, permit, or special identification card issued by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles shall satisfy these requirements. Any person who makes false statements or presents false documentation shall be guilty of perjury.

Studies and Commissions

Despite the fact that the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission recently completed a study of the acclimatization of the foreign born in Virginia, the recommendations of which have largely been unimplemented, there are several proposals to establish commissions or legislative study committees to study aspects of immigration and the impact of immigrants on Virginia.

HB 186 (Marshall, R Manassas)
Commission on Immigration. This bill creates the Virginia Commission on Immigration as an advisory commission in the executive branch to analyze the current impact of immigration on the Commonwealth and make recommendations on related policies. The bill sets out the membership of the Commission and sets their terms, powers, and duties.

HJ 63 (Parrish, R Prince William)
Study; immigration issues; report. Establishes a joint legislative subcommittee to study immigration issues in the Commonwealth.

SJ 46 (O’Brien, R Springfield)
Study; impact of undocumented immigrants; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the impact of undocumented immigrants who are unlawfully in the United States and residing in Virginia on the state's economy and government services and resources.

SJ 47 (O’Brien, R Springfield)
Study; implementation of the federal "Real ID Act of 2005"; report. Establishes a 10-member joint legislative subcommittee to study the impact of implementation of the federal "Real ID Act of 2005" on the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Center Priorities (.pdf)

Bulletin Inserts
Child Support (.pdf)
Environment (.pdf)
Housing Trust (.pdf)
Indigent Defense (.pdf)
Payday Lending (.pdf)
Minimum Wage (.pdf)

Advocacy Resources
Advocacy Guide (.doc)
Advocacy Portal (link)
Lending Info. (.ppt)
Richmond Map (.pdf)

For Small Groups
Eco-Stewardship (link)
Prayers for Creation (link)
Poverty Diet (link)

Policy Briefs
EITC (.doc)
TANF Child Support (.doc)
Payday Loans (.doc)
Healing Creation (.doc)
Child Ombudsman (.doc)
Affordable Housing (.doc)
Indigent Defense (.doc)
Minimum Wage (.doc)
Wage & EITC (.doc)
VA Tribes (.link)

Actions
Lending Petition (link)
Title Petition (link)
Wage Petition (link)

Reports
Budget Analysis (.pdf)
Food Stamps (.doc)
Lottery Study (link)

FAQ's (link)

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