Committee considers H.511, would bar ICE from nonpublic school areas without judicial warrant

Representative Greer, sponsor of H.511, told the House Health & Judiciary Committee on April 30 that the bill "would require Vermont schools to adopt policies restricting the entry of federal immigration authorities into non public areas of school buildings if they do not have a judicial warrant." The committee voted to take up the short-form bill at the start of the session.

The bill would direct each school to adopt an access-control and visitor management policy that, at minimum, requires employees to refuse entry to a "federal immigration authority" into nonpublic areas (for example, classrooms) unless the authority presents a judicial warrant. Legislative counsel Rick Segal said the draft also clarifies that "a federal immigration detainer or other warrant or request from a federal immigration authority shall not constitute a judicial warrant." Subsection language in the draft would also preserve an exception for exigent or emergency circumstances unrelated to immigration enforcement.

The proposal includes a state-directed implementation step: the Agency of Education, in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General, would develop a model policy "on or before 12/01/2025" and distribute it to schools by 12/31/2025, according to the text Rick Segal described. Segal also noted an existing Vermont statute (16 VSA a7 1484) that already requires schools to adopt access-control and visitor-management…