Advocates say Nevada lawmakers pushed “performative” immigration policy

As immigrant advocates pushed for increased ICE enforcement regulations, policies were crafted behind closed doors, locking out the most impacted voices.

During Nevada’s special legislative session in November, during which state lawmakers address urgent or unfinished issues that can’t wait until the next regular session, immigrant advocates vied for the passage of policies that would protect vulnerable populations as nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers ramp up detentions and deportations.

Typically, Nevada’s special session begins with a proclamation from the governor that lists the bills to be voted on. Nevada’s Constitution allows for legislators to introduce additional bills through a petition process, provided they secure a two-thirds majority of signatures, which played out when lawmakers presented the cap on corporate home buying. 

Yet immigrant advocacy groups, such as the Nevada Immigrant Coalition (NIC), faced repeated procedural barriers in promoting their priorities. Those measures included a ban on masked law enforcement, restrictions on state agencies sharing data with federal authorities solely for immigration investigation, and increased designations of sensitive locations that require a judicial warrant for ICE enforcement. 

This comes as President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, which he launched on day one of his administration, rapidly spiked ICE arrests in Nevada by nearly 400% by June, leading to overcrowding at facilities and sparking discussion about expansions, as reported by The Nevada Independent. ICE arrests have steadily increased in the state, jumping another 30% since September.

As a result, advocates, including Make The Road Nevada (MTRN), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada, Hispanics in Politics, and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada gathered at a rally hosted by NIC on Saturday, Nov. 15. The group urged lawmakers to craft inclusive agendas, calling for immigrant protection policies.

“I do feel that one of the things that is an attempt to try to listen to the community [is the amendment] about not allowing immigration enforcement to enter the schools,” said Noe Orosco, coordinator for NIC. “But again … we didn’t want to just limit it to schools.”

NIC wanted to include churches, courts, hospitals, and day care centers that would require warrants for ICE enforcement.

Protections enacted through Gov. Joe Lombardo’s crime package, which he signed into law last month, include limitations to ICE’s presence in schools—requiring a judicial warrant—and increased transparency for immigration detainees in state or local facilities. Both measures were amendments tucked into Lombardo’s omnibus crime bill, added just before its passage on the final day of the session.

“[Those amendments] came in the middle of the night,” Orosco said. “It was very discouraging, because we would want to ensure that if these amendments … are doing the most good, as opposed to a little bit of good.”

The Democratic-led Assembly—which several advocates from three organizations pointed to as the primary stonewall on immigration policy—failed to respond to multiple requests for comment. 

Nevada’s immigrant population is large and essential to the state’s economy. Of the 613,800 immigrants in Nevada, nearly 294,000 are eligible to vote. They also make up a sizable share of key industries: 36% of construction workers and 32% of hospitality jobs statewide, according to the American Immigration Council. In 2023, the group paid $5.7 billion in taxes and contributed $1.7 billion in rent.

Critics said the session largely favored symbolic gestures over meaningful change for immigrants. When Assembly leadership introduced ACR-5, a resolution studying federal immigration law in Nevada, Tony Ramirez, lobbyist for MTRN, called it “purely performative,” saying it did nothing for communities excluded from the policy debate. Orosco said opposing the measure loudly became the focus of the rally, which was planned weeks before the special session.

When it comes to immigration in Nevada, the state led the nation in mixed-status households in 2023, with 10% of homes including at least one unauthorized resident, according to the latest data from Pew Research Center. 

California, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey followed with 9%.

Lawmakers also rejected a conceptual amendment brought forth by the ACLU of Nevada that would have required police to investigate “reports of masked individuals detaining or otherwise picking up individuals from the street, as kidnappings,” said Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada. The proposal would have required law enforcement to verify ICE in those situations to deter impersonators.

The organization also pushed for increasing oversight of ICE by requiring legislative approval to expand ICE detention facilities in Nevada. He also slammed the bill that immigration amendments were written into, saying the crime package puts legal permanent residents at risk. 

“The bill itself is incredibly disastrous for immigrant communities, including legal permanent residents, who now might find themselves caught in a much broader criminal legal system net,” he said, adding, “which ultimately could end up leading to revocations of status and deportations.”