Montpelier, Vt. – Yesterday, Governor Scott signed into law S.209, a bill to protect sensitive community locations, like schools and hospitals and government owned buildings, from warrantless immigration arrests. In 2025, ICE rescinded guidance that limited enforcement activities in sensitive community spaces like our schools, hospitals, and places of worship. With federal agents potentially targeting these locations, people are rightfully afraid to enter these spaces, thereby preventing them from being able to utilize essential services.
The law builds off Vermont’s existing protections against warrantless arrests in courthouses and extends similar prohibitions to other locations which people need to access for their health and to fully engage in civic life. The bill, along with other legislation signed into law earlier this month, provides focused protection in school settings and puts additional procedures in place to protect student information and guard against warrantless arrests in schools.
This is part of a full package of laws championed by the ACLU and passed this year by the legislature to better protect immigrant communities in Vermont and create increased accountability for federal law enforcement agents. This package also includes the Constitutional Accountability Act and funding for immigrant legal services in the state budget.
The following is a statement from Jordan Souder, Policy Advocate, ACLU of Vermont:
“We all deserve to move freely through our communities and access public services without fear of harassment or abuse. This law provides essential protection against federal abuses of power that put our neighborhoods at risk. By preventing warrantless immigration arrests in public and government-owned buildings like schools and hospitals, this legislation makes it safer for all Vermonters to access these locations and fully participate in our society.
“Alongside other bills signed into law earlier this month, this legislation supports immigrant communities in Vermont and ensures that essential services remain safe and accessible in the face of the federal government's overreach.
“We appreciate state lawmakers’ commitment to protect our communities from federal attacks on immigrant communities. The passage of protections for sensitive locations, along with the Constitutional Accountability Act and funding for immigrant legal services, puts Vermont at the vanguard of national efforts to combat the worst impacts of the Trump administration’s harmful and often unlawful mass deportation agenda.
“Unfortunately, not all of the legislature’s efforts to guard against the harmful tactics of the Trump administration made it into law this year. The bill that would have prohibited all law enforcement—including federal agents—from masking to conceal their identities failed to make it out of the legislature before the body adjourned. Moving forward, the ACLU and our allies will continue to advocate for policies such as these to help create a firewall for freedom here in Vermont.”
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