For years, Nevada progressives have pushed for expanding protections such as limiting police collaboration with federal authorities and enhancing data privacy for the state’s immigrant community.

Now, during the most recent special session, they’ve secured some of the state’s most notable immigration reforms to date through an unexpected vehicle: Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s crime bill. It’s a surprising development given Lombardo’s history of opposing expanded immigrant protections.

After the crime bill was reworked by Democrats, the new law will now curtail the ability of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to act on school grounds. It will also require the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) to create a detainee locator for all incarcerated people, including those waiting to be picked up by ICE. Another amendment, added into a school zone safety bill, will limit the ability for schools to share students’ personal information. 

The crime bill passed the Nevada Assembly 31-11 and the Senate 16-2, with solely Democrats in opposition in both chambers. 

Policymakers told The Nevada Independent that passing the immigration protections required careful deliberation and were helped by urgency to pass Lombardo’s crime bill, which had previously died in the final moments of the 2025 regular session. There was speculation that the new amendments could have jeopardized the bill — a key goal for Lombardo since taking office. As a former sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the governor has campaigned on restoring a sense of “law and order” to the state. 

It’s a unique moment for immigration protections to be approved in politically purple Nevada, which has one of the highest shares of undocumented people nationwide and is experiencing ballooning ICE arrests. In September, Lombardo signed an agreement with the Trump administration to follow the president’s immigration agenda, outlining several steps the governor has taken to crack down on unauthorized immigration since 2023. 

As part of that agreement, Lombardo pledged to “to counter-balance” any actions the state attorney general and Legislature may take to enact “unlawful sanctuary policies.”

But conservatives and progressives pushed back against the idea that the new crime law would risk the federal government reapplying the sanctuary label, saying that the protections do not apply strictly to immigrants. In a statement on X, Lombardo’s office wrote the new crime law will “allow for law enforcement to do what they must to keep our schools safe” and said that privacy protections align with federal law. 

“AB4 is not an unlawful sanctuary policy. In reality, it strengthens laws against theft, domestic violence, and driving under the influence — crimes fueled by the addiction epidemic inflicted on our country by cartel activity,” Lombardo wrote on X shortly before signing the bill.  

Crafting the crime bill 

In addition to the new protections, the law will revive a court to deal with crimes exclusively committed on the Las Vegas Strip — a proposal backed by the powerful Nevada Resort Association — as well as crack down on certain types of burglaries and DUI offenses. 

That was important to Sen. John Steinbeck (R-Las Vegas). He told The Indy in an interview that he was comfortable backing the immigration protections in order to get other provisions, including reforms to DUI laws and the new corridor court, in the crime bill codified. He called the death of the crime bill during the 2025 session one of its “biggest disappointments.” 

“Everything we do in this bill, it’s going to affect somebody positively,” Steinbeck said. “Somebody won’t have their loved one killed by a drunk driver. Someone won’t get assaulted or harassed on the Strip. Somebody will be identified through the strengthening laws on assault.”

Steinbeck said there was “a lot of discussion” between Republicans and Democrats on crafting the language in the reworked crime bill. During the rapid-fire special session, the immigration protections underwent several technical tweaks. Steinbeck, who previously served on the state’s Homeland Security Commission, said he was “confident” the language wouldn’t risk Nevada being labeled a sanctuary jurisdiction — a nebulous designation that the Trump administration has used to scrutinize states and cities with immigration protections. 

“As far as the amendments that went through, they don’t worry me at all,” Steinbeck said. “That’s why I went ahead and voted for it.”

Nothing in the law, Steinbeck added, will limit police from entering the school properties, especially in the case of an imminent threat.

Many of the new immigration protections passed in the special session were already federal law. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevents schools from releasing students’ records except in limited circumstances and, up until President Donald Trump rescinded the policy earlier this year, immigration enforcement activities were prohibited from sensitive locations, such as schools and churches. 

In 2017, Nevada school districts, such as Clark and Washoe, also passed resolutions promising to protect students from immigration authorities pursuing them or their information.

The new language around school protections is markedly different from earlier proposals. During the 2025 session, Assm. Cecelia Gonzalez (D-Las Vegas) introduced a measure to limit ICE activity on school grounds. That bill would have explicitly banned the enforcement of immigration laws on campuses except if authorities had a warrant or lawful court order, whereas the new language in the crime bill makes no mention of immigration laws. 

Lombardo vetoed Gonzalez’s measure, calling it “fundamentally overbroad” and that it would effectively transform “school grounds into sanctuary zones at all times.” 

In contrast, the new language says that a school district or public school shall not grant a law enforcement officer carrying out official duties permission to access school grounds unless they have a lawful order or there are exigent circumstances, such as a criminal investigation. 

The definition of law enforcement officer does not include sheriffs, their deputies and correctional officers per the bill. 

In November, Lombardo said on X that the crime bill “now conforms with constitutional practices” and that it does not violate the state’s immigration agreement with the Trump administration. 

More action needed

Progressive lawmakers and advocates said there was a bigger appetite for immigration protections this time around, in part because the impact of immigration enforcement has become more visible. 

Assm. Selena Torres-Fossett (D-Las Vegas), a longtime proponent of expanding immigration protections, said that in her work as a teacher she has seen how ICE has become a stressor for families. She said she knows of at least one family that made the decision to self-deport. Torres-Fossett has introduced legislation in the past to prevent police partnerships with ICE, but the measures were blocked.

Groups such as the Latino Legislative Caucus and Make the Road Nevada credited supportive leadership, especially Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) and the incoming Assembly Democratic Caucus chair, Elaine Marzola (D-Henderson), for helping get the measures across this time. 

Still, progressives say more protection is still needed, especially as they expect immigration enforcement to intensify throughout the Trump administration. 

“At the end of the day, when I knock on doors, one of the complaints that I get from my constituents is that Democrats aren't doing enough to support immigrant communities,” Torres-Fossett said. “I know that there's still more work to be done.”