Monday, September 8, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
HB1970: Illegal aliens; it is unlawful to be in Virginia if in United States illegally.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 19.2-81.6 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 18.2-504.2 as follows:
§ 18.2-504.2. Federal illegal alien status unlawful in Virginia; penalty.
Any alien who is present in the United States illegally, as previously verified by the Law Enforcement Support Center of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States Department of Homeland Security, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
§ 19.2-81.6. Authority of law-enforcement officers to arrest illegal aliens.
All law-enforcement officers enumerated in §
19.2-81 shall have the authority to enforce immigration laws of the United
States, pursuant to the provisions of this section. Any law-enforcement officer
enumerated in § 19.2-81 may, in the course of acting upon reasonable suspicion
that an individual has committed or is committing a crime or a traffic
infraction, arrest the individual
without a warrant upon receiving confirmation from the Law Enforcement
Support Center of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
of the United States Department of Homeland Security that the individual (i) is
an alien illegally present in the United States, and (ii) has
previously been convicted of a felony in the United States and deported or left
the United States after such conviction. Upon receiving such
confirmation, the officer shall take the individual forthwith before a
magistrate or other issuing authority and proceed pursuant to § 19.2-82. All
law-enforcement officers enumerated in § 19.2-81 shall have, in
addition to the arrest authority set forth therein to
enforce the laws of the Commonwealth, the
authority to enforce immigration laws of the United States, pursuant to the
provisions of this section.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.