With the nation’s eyes on Minneapolis after residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot by federal agents this month, Democratic lawmakers have become increasingly critical of the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, with some calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s impeachment.
In Richmond, state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim is pushing three pieces of legislation that he says will keep “the chaos, lawlessness, and violence that we have seen perpetrated against Minnesotans from coming to Virginia.”
“If we let fear control the narrative now, we lose our rights, our communities, and the very idea that the government should protect life, not take it,” Salim, whose district includes Fairfax City, Tysons, Oakton, Vienna, Merrifield and Falls Church, said in a statement issued Monday (Jan. 26).
“We have to remember that when peaceful citizens start to be targets of state violence, it is exactly at that moment that we either let fear close our eyes, or we insist that no agency, no badge, and no president is above the law or the value of a human life.”
Each of Salim’s bills would place state-level restrictions on certain actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, who have reportedly increased activities in Fairfax County but haven’t been deployed at the level seen in Minneapolis, D.C., Portland and other cities.
SB 351, for example, would prohibit civil arrests of anybody attending a required court hearing and would prevent certain members of law enforcement from entering a courthouse unless they present a judicial warrant.
Another bill (SB 352) would prohibit certain state and federal law enforcement from wearing face coverings with limited exceptions, while SB 783 places restrictions on which members of law enforcement can “perform a function of an immigration officer.”
“The three bills I introduced share one goal: ensuring that immigrants, protesters, and all Virginians who value peace and justice know the Commonwealth of Virginia and its law enforcement agencies are on their side,” Salim said in a statement.
Salim is not alone in his efforts. Many other lawmakers have introduced immigration enforcement-related bills for consideration by the Virginia General Assembly this year, including Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3), who has authored multiple pieces of legislation that would restrict law enforcement from entering “nonpublic” areas to carry out actions.
Each of Salim’s bills must first be approved by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee before being considered by the chamber at large. The Senate must pass any of its own legislation by Feb. 17, which is the deadline for Senate bills to cross over to the House of Delegates and vice versa.
