Three bills relevant to immigrant students, HB 1857, HB 2001, and HB 2004, are being heard in subcommittee today, Tuesday January 31st 2017. With the Trump administration holding power at the federal level, this is not a good time to let legislation hostile to immigrants slip through at the state legislature.
My summaries are below.
HB 1857 would give some eligible people (undocumented immigrants already involved in deferred-action programs like DACA for childhood arrivals, people applying for citizenship) access to in-state tuition. This is especially necessary because, under the current administration, the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is uncertain.
HB 2001 would mandate that university officials cooperate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), making universities enforcement zones. This would render higher-education environments, currently "sensitive sites" where ICE is not supposed to focus their activity, hostile to immigrants, documented or otherwise. Universities should be safe havens in this climate of growing anti-immigrant sentiment, and they can't be if ICE is around.
HB 2004 would require schools public institutions to release data annually on their non-citizen students. This kind of disclosure makes anti-immigrant actions easier.
Here is a guide, which discusses these bills, provides a list of people to call, and provides a script to tell you what to say.
The bills will be heard at 4pm in the Higher Education subcommittee, which is meeting in the 5th floor east conference room of the Virginia General Assembly Building (201 North 9th St, Richmond, VA).
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