Policy Update: Call to Protest, Immigration Updates, Voting Rights Win, Public College Tuition Rises

(Week of Aug. 26-30)

Although summer is winding down, actions on the advocacy front are heating up, including Virginia and nationwide peaceful protests Monday on Labor Day. A new tactic by immigration officers is raising even more concern, and although college students have been moving into housing the past week, they’re paying more to do so. Bright spots, though, include growing adoption of “solidarity signs” to raise collective courage against unlawful kidnapping and detention of immigrants, and a Virginia voting rights win in court Monday that may help thousands retain their right to cast a ballot!    

•  NASW Virginia Call to Action: Join statewide Protests on Labor Day to Support Workers, Oppose Trump Overreach and Human Rights Attacks!

•  Join Sept. 1 Protests in Support of the Labor Movement, Opposition to Trump Administration’s Attacks on DC Home Rule, Human Rights, Homeless People, Education, and Science  

• Banning Bond Hearings a New ICE Tactic to Deny Due Process to Undocumented Migrants

• Voting Rights Advocates Celebrate Aug. 20 Ruling to Proceed with Lawsuit on Discriminatory Registration Purges

• Virginia College Students Face Higher Tuition Rates This Year

CALL TO ACTION: PEACEFUL PROTEST! Hit the streets Monday, Sept. 1 for in-person protests statewide in a Labor Day “Workers Over Billionaires Rally and March!” Social workers are encouraged to join NASW, 50501 VA, Indivisible activist groups, and thousands of other people in the streets for peaceful demonstrations to protect our democracy against the increasingly authoritarian regime of President Trump, including the extreme federalization of law enforcement in DC, attacks on human rights such as transgender athletes, mass deportations without due process of undocumented migrants, and funding cuts of lifesaving services to the poor and vulnerable. Social workers in Richmond, please meet in solidarity at 4:30 p.m. in Monroe Park. and our partners

IMMIGRATION: Tell ICE they are not welcome at your office—download a migrant solidarity sign! The Immigrant Legal Resource Center has free signs and flyers that it is asking businesses, including private healthcare offices, to post to alert immigration officers that they are unwelcome and that your workplace—or at least certain parts of it—is private and off limits to immigration law enforcement. The signs have been appearing across Virginia and other states as small businesses and others declare their support for immigrants and due process, and their opposition to the extreme, often-violent mass deportations shown in videos and on social media by citizen witnesses.

IMMIGRATION: ICE has launched a new anti-immigration tactic—attempting to ban bond hearings—that could lead to indefinite jailing of thousands of detainees with no opportunity to be heard and no access to basic due process. This policy tosses constitutional protections and sets a dangerous precedent. In addition, previously unarmed National Guard in DC are now permitted to carry guns and weapons for use as they see fit against fellow citizens on the streets of our nation’s capital.  

VOTING RIGHTS: In a major win for voting rights and the rule of law, a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has denied a motion to dismiss a critical Virginia voting access case, Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR) v. Beals. The lawsuit--filed by the League of Women Voters of Virginia, Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and African Communities Together--alleges that “a state program that uses government records to flag supposed non-citizens for removal from the voter rolls is actually removing eligible citizens in violation of federal law,” they wrote. The ruling keeps the trio’s core claims intact and allows them to move forward with charges that the state has been violating the National Voter Registration Act and risks disenfranchising eligible voters, especially naturalized citizens. For the latest voter information and our chapter’s efforts to protect access and counter disinformation, visit the NASWVA microsite here.

Virginia public colleges and universities, including those with social work programs, have raised in-state undergraduate tuition for 2025-2026 by an average of more than 2% (total cost $14,846), despite legislators pleas to freeze or minimize increases. This is the fourth year of tuition hikes, according to the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia. Virginia higher education already costs more than most U.S. public colleges, and the General Assembly approved a 3% cost-of-living raise for state workers such as professors that began in June. With room and board, the cost for Virginia public universities now will reach an average $29,538. Unfortunately, the move is made more painful by newly announced federal student aid changes, especially in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program last week. NASW members can use their discounted access to SAVI for help navigate those emerging new rules.