Hello, I am student of Charlottesville high school. my name is Nargis Haidary. I support the HB 836 student. Every student should feel safe at school and I want to support my classmates. I think we should support each other because we protect human rights, prevent the separation of families, and maintain the safety and stability of communities.

Chair and Members of the Subcommittee: My name is Anne Kelsey, and I am a Senior Policy Analyst at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. The Young Center protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children and advocates for an immigration system that treats children as children first. The Young Center urges the Subcommittee to support HB 836. Every child deserves to feel safe and supported at school, regardless of immigration status. Yet in January 2025, the federal administration rescinded its sensitive locations policy that kept immigration enforcement away from schools, churches, and hospitals. This change has resulted in increased ICE enforcement and presence near schools, leading to direct harm to children, families, and communities. Across the country, and in Virginia, we see rising absenteeism, declining participation in school activities, and pervasive fear and anxiety. It is not only undocumented or uncertainly documented children that are affected, but all children who see their family, friends, and community under attack. Considering these serious and ongoing harms, it is critical that Virginia act to protect their students and their schools. In addition to important privacy protections and state-wide uniform procedures, HB 836 would codify the constitutional right to a free public education regardless of immigration or citizenship status into state law. Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court decision from 1982 that affirms this right, is under attack by anti-immigrant advocates and legislators across the country. Thus, it is important that Virginia act now to clearly affirm and codify the right to a free public education for all children.

I am a student at Charlottesville High School writing in support of HB-836. This bill is important to pass because of the effect ICE will have on students. With the constant fear of ICE when attending schools, illegal and even legal students might not benefit from the same education as everyone else. Every student should feel safe in schools, whether or not they are legal. School should be a safe space of education and growth, rather than a place someone is scared to go. Because of this fear, many students don't attend classes or miss long periods of school. Every kid deserves an education, as they are the foundation of our future. This is true for every child in America, a citizen or not. I urge you to vote in favor of HB-836.

I'm a student at Charlottesville high school and I'm supporting this bill and our school needs more money to support their students and help students with what stuff they need to have.

We are students from Charlottesville High School and we are in a class right now with students from 8 different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. We feel safe in our school because there is no ICE presence and we have teachers we trust. Even though some students bully, we still feel safe. We understand not all students in Virginia feel this safe, and if ICE were in schools then students will stop coming. If students stop coming, then when the next election happens, it won't matter because they will have missed so much. And then they will not have degrees or jobs. They are humans like us. Hate is not the way to go forward. Please vote for HB836 and tell your colleagues to do the same. Abdulazeez, Mohammad, Heidan , Alinoti

I am writing in support of SB 836. I am the Language Justice Coordinator at Richmond Public Schools and work with multilingual/immigrant families every day. This bill is important because it would guarantee the right to a free public education for all children across the commonwealth. A child's right to learn should never be dictated by their birthplace. Education is a cornerstone of our society, and especially in Virginia. For that reason, schools need to be safe havens for our children. They should not have to worry about their safety or immigration status while trying to learn. Codifying these protection sends the message that we value children first in Virginia. We cannot be leaders in education when our most vulnerable students aren't protected. Please stand on the side of justice, compassion, and progress for the future of Virginia.

Chair and Members of the Subcommittee: My name is Ryan Durazo, and I am a Supervising Attorney with Ayuda’s Children’s Program. Ayuda is a nonprofit organization that provides legal, social, and language access services to immigrant communities across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Every day, Ayuda works alongside immigrant children and families who are seeking safety, stability, and dignity. We strongly urge the Subcommittee to support HB 836. HB 836 is urgently needed to ensure that Virginia’s public schools remain safe, welcoming spaces for all students, regardless of their actual or perceived immigration status. I would like to share the story of “Daniel,” a young person we represent, whose experience illustrates why HB 836 is necessary. Daniel is a freshman in high school; with the help of Ayuda and state services, he was receiving a fresh start after a traumatic childhood; when we read the horrific details of the abuse his parents inflicted on him aloud in court, even the judge cried. Daniel’s story was on the verge of being one of hope; he’d been engaging in music therapy and has a notebook full of songs he is excited to share. However, because of his county’s 287(g) agreement, all that changed last fall; Daniel had been receiving therapeutic services in foster care for just under a month when he had a non-violent disciplinary issue at school; his school resource officer, in coordination with the county sheriff, used this incident as an excuse to call ICE on Daniel. ICE came to Daniel’s foster home, and using deceptive and intimidating tactics, and information they had obtained through the 287(g) agreement, took Daniel away in handcuffs and within a matter of hours, transported him across state lines where he couldn’t be reached. All this, despite Daniel having legal protection from deportation, which rarely matters to ICE. As of today, we are still fighting for Daniel’s release. He spent Christmas in detention because of a sheriff and school resource officer who were enabled by 287(g) to act as immigration enforcement based on Daniel’s perceived immigration status. Daniel’s case is not an isolated incident. Across the state, we have seen how collaboration between local law enforcement, school personnel, and federal immigration authorities erodes trust, discourages school attendance, and traumatizes and retraumatizes children, some of whom, like Daniel, are already survivors of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. HB836 provides a clear solution: protecting student privacy, prohibiting discrimination and intimidation based on immigration status, establishing uniform rules for law-enforcement interactions in schools, and providing clear enforcement mechanisms for families. These protections are essential to restoring trust, stabilizing enrollment, and ensuring that children can learn without fear. Research and local data show that immigration enforcement activity in and around schools leads to increased absenteeism, declining enrollment (particularly among multilingual learners) and significant harm to student well-being and academic outcomes. On behalf of Ayuda and the children and families we serve, we urge you to vote yes on HB 836. Virginia’s schools must be places of learning and healing, not fear. Young people like Daniel deserve nothing less. Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony and for your consideration. Respectfully submitted, Ryan Durazo

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee. My name is Dr. Jennifer Blackwell, and I am the Director of Multilingual Learner Success for Richmond Public Schools, and I am speaking in support of HB 836. Since early 2025, changes in federal enforcement have removed the protections that used to keep immigration enforcement out of our school zones. The impact in our schools was immediate. We saw rising absenteeism and declining enrollment, specifically among our multilingual learners and our newcomer students. When families fear that dropping their child off at school could lead to family separation, they keep their children home. And we know that children cannot learn if they are not at school. We know that children cannot learn if they are living in fear! Currently, Virginia has no state-level protections, leading to inconsistent responses across divisions. In Richmond Public Schools, we have taken a proactive approach to ensuring the safety of our students by reviewing and revising our school board policies, by training multiple RPS stakeholders on student privacy and student rights, and by providing family and community resources, but even with all of the work we’ve done to communicate safety and love as a school division, it still does not feel like enough! The inconsistency between what school divisions have been able to create and the lack of protections that currently exist breeds fear. Nothing breaks your heart more than knowing that your 5th-grade multilingual learner student, who won the science fair, won’t be at the ceremony and celebration after school because his parents are fearful of showing up to school. Nothing breaks your heart more than seeing a high school senior seriously contemplate dropping out of school, now that they have to work to support their family because their father was publicly detained at the school bus stop. HB 836 is the solution. It strengthens student privacy and strictly limits when schools can collect or share immigration-related information. It ensures that our schools remain safe havens focused on education, not enforcement. By passing this bill, you guarantee that every child in the Commonwealth can learn without fear. I urge you to vote yes on HB 836.

I oppose this bill because it takes a protection that already exists under federal law and turns it into a sweeping liability trap for schools. No child should ever be denied a public education based on immigration status. That is already settled law. What this bill does instead is force school boards, principals, teachers, and even school resource officers into legal and constitutional decisions they are not trained to make, while exposing them to lawsuits for vague, subjective violations based on “perceived” status. This bill does not strengthen education. It expands legal risk, invites litigation, and pulls schools into immigration enforcement conflicts that belong in the courts, not the classroom. It replaces clarity with fear and discretion with rigid rules, making schools less safe and less focused on teaching. Protecting students does not require turning educators into legal gatekeepers or making schools targets for civil lawsuits. We can uphold the right to education without undermining local governance, law enforcement coordination, or common sense. That is why I oppose this bill.

HB478 This testimony is in favor of the enactment of a Fine Arts Seal of Excellence on high school diplomas. In considering the Fine Arts Seal of Excellence on a diploma, a lot is to be considered. Guidelines and criteria should reflect the dedication students have given to the Fine Arts Program of their school district to receive such an honor. This honor would be not only an encouragement to the dedication and participation of the programs that really compliment the educational experience students receive academically, This recognition would not only serve to encourage the students participating and dedicating themselves, but also be a lighthouse to beacon prospective students to participate in such programs. We have long known the value of such programs to improve academic improvement, aid in responsibility through punctuality and taking ownership of being a part of team effort. These skills are valuable and carry young people into adulthood and through the rest of their lives. To recognize their significant dedication to such programs for most of their formidable high school years will I believe shape stronger intellect and success in our future graduates. Please deeply consider the positive impact this will have on future graduates when approving this measure. Respectfully, Mrs. O’Neill