Bills to unmask ICE, restrict arrests likely headed to House Judiciary next week
Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky in Cedar Creek Room Wednesday, January 21. Page video
By Guy Page
Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (D/P – Chittenden) told a rally packing the Cedar Creek Room at the Vermont State House Wednesday, January 21 that two anti-ICE bills now in Senate Judiciary could well survive a court challenge based on the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution.
S.208 and S.209 would restrict civil arrests, including immigration arrests, and would require all law enforcement officers to wear name tags and not wear masks, except in special circumstances.
A constitutional lawyer told Senate Judiciary these laws could survive federal court scrutiny if written to apply to all law enforcement- local, state and federal.
Vyhovsky said the bills will be ‘marked up’ for final review and are likely to be voted out to the full Senate next week.
If/when approved by the Senate, it will land in House Judiciary – where the absence of Rep. Kevin Christie (D-Hartford) for medical reasons has resulted in a 5-5 Democrat/Republican balance. Vice-chair Tom Burditt (R-West Rutland) predicted the bill would be unlikely to advance.
A data privacy law similar to legislation that was almost passed into law last year is being used as a tool to try to shut down ICE cyberinvestigations in Minnesota.
S.71, the Consumer Data Privacy Bill championed by Rep. Monique Priestley (D-Bradford), foundered in the final days of the 2025 Legislature when time ran out to reconcile the versions of the bill passed by both the House and Senate.
States Newsroom reports: “The Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act — signed into law in 2024 — gives Minnesota residents the right to tell companies “no” when it comes to selling their data or using it for profiling and targeted advertising. That power became newly relevant when ICE bought access in September to a social media and phone surveillance system that allows agents to monitor city blocks and neighborhoods — and track the movements of people’s smart phones.
“‘Data is being weaponized,” said John Boehler, a policy counsel with ACLU Minnesota. ‘It’s being weaponized by a hostile federal government, and that was always the intended use for all that data collection.’’’