This story was reported and written by our media partner the Virginia Mercury.
Virginia lawmakers are on track to codify a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects a child’s right to an education regardless of their immigration or citizenship status.
The move comes amid ramped up immigration enforcement, federal policy changes and related legal challenges. In January, President Donald Trump’s administration rescinded a 2021 policy set by former President Joe Biden that ordered immigration officers to avoid enforcement actions in or near certain community locations like schools, to allow people to safely access essential services, including education.
Lawmakers’ proposal in Virginia would codify a student’s right to K-12 education and require schools to be safe and welcoming for all students.
“You go to school for learning and for belonging and for growth,” said Sen. Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax, the patron for Senate Bill 491. “You don’t go to school to be fearful of your peers or your teachers or the world around you, and I want to maintain that sanctity of the school walls.”
House Education Committee Chair Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, who is carrying House Bill 836, said he’s aware of the impact the federal government’s actions have had on communities and children.
No widely documented cases of immigration enforcement at Virginia’s schools have been reported, although a Henrico high school student’s detainment at a local courthouse drew public outcry last summer. Similarly, a New York high school student was detained by ICE last May. In Minnesota, a five-year-old preschooler and his father were arrested by law enforcement as the child arrived home from school..
Rasoul said in order for children to be properly educated, they have to be nourished, well-rested, and feel safe.
“Those are the very basics for our students to be able to take what we’re feeding them,” Rasoul said. “So the more we can do as a commonwealth to send that clear signal that you are safe in our schools, the better off we’ll be for our children.”
Challenging the status quo
Nationally, a few states have already begun challenging the 1982 court decision to enact laws restricting free public education for undocumented students.
Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation recommended in February 2024 and again in a Feb. 17 policy document that states should challenge the decision in court because undocumented students are an economic burden on schools. The foundation was responsible for Project 2025, a conservative plan that mirrors many of the current Trump administration’s policies.
Lora Ries, the author of the report “Every State Should Challenge Plyler v. Doe: Time to End Free Education for Illegal Alien K–12 Students,” argues that states should require proof of legal residency for free K-12 education, or charge tuition for students who cannot provide it, which could be challenged in court.
“The Court should overturn Plyler because states have an interest in preventing illegal aliens,” Reis wrote.
The Virginia legislation also follows the Department of Homeland Security’s issuance of two directives to further empower law enforcement and restrict humanitarian parole at the U.S. southern border.
One directive rescinds the Biden Administration’s guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement actions that the agency says “thwart law enforcement in or near so-called ‘sensitive’ areas.”
The second directive ends the “broad abuse” of humanitarian parole and returns the program to a case-by-case basis. The agency said ICE and CBP will phase out any parole programs that do not comply with the law.
“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and rapists—who have illegally come into our country,” DHS said in a Jan. 21 statement. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
What the legislation would do
Backed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1982 Pyler v. Doe case, which holds that every child has a right to an education, Virginia lawmakers are proposing clearer duties for staff and boards to protect students who may be too afraid to attend school.
Earlier in the session, a similar bill, HB 912, introduced by Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington, was incorporated into Rasoul’s proposal.
“We do have children and families who are scared to come to school,” Rasoul said. “I think (the purpose of the measure is) codifying and letting people know, sending a clear message that in Virginia, regardless of which locality you live in, what school you go to, that your school should be a safe place, and that families deserve to know that you’ve got a right to that K–12 education no matter what.”
Both House and Senate bills require the Virginia Department of Education to develop guidance and training materials for school personnel. School boards must publish their own policies and procedures, and ensure principals and administrators complete the necessary training.
The legislation prohibits school officials from excluding students from activities based on their citizenship or immigration status and from developing discriminatory policies that would exclude students and their parents.
School officials would also be prohibited from designating students’ immigration status, country of birth, or nationality as “directory information.” They would also be prohibited from requesting or collecting documentation regarding immigration status, except as required by state or federal law.
They may not threaten or share someone’s immigration status with law enforcement or immigration agencies, unless the law or an emergency requires it.
Lawmakers said the legislation does not prohibit schools from complying with federal information–sharing laws, responding to federal status requests, or complying with judicial warrants issued by a judge.
What’s next
A significant difference between the two bills is a clause in the House version that gives families the right to sue if a school violates the proposed rules. The measures also differ in deciding when the education department must develop the guidance for schools, and school boards to set the policies.
The Senate bill requires the state to give guidance by August 2026 and school boards to set policies by Dec. 31. The House bill gives the state until August 2027 and school boards until the 2027–28 school year starts.
Pekarsky and Rasoul will meet to settle the differences before the proposal leaves the General Assembly.
State lawmakers have a little over a week left in session before all bills, including the right-to-education legislation, must pass and be considered by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, or die.
Spanberger can either accept the bills as written, recommend changes or reject them.
Pekarsky said she hopes the governor will continue to remember the importance of public education for students when considering the proposal.
“It’s not just our students who are fearful. I think a lot of our educators and staff in schools are fearful about what they hear is happening in communities, and they want the resources, they want the guidance,” Pekarsky said.
“So this is as much a protection, I think, for our staff in schools as much as it is for our students,” she said. “It’s a very clear line in the sand that in Virginia, this is what we expect our schools to offer, and our schools are going to be safe havens.”