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December 10, 2025

Illinois HB 3247 and HB 1312: What You Should Know About New Statewide Protections for Immigrant Families in Licensed Childcare Centers, K-12 Schools, Higher Education, and State Courthouses

By: Latino Policy Forum

In 2025 the Illinois General Assembly passed House Bill 3247 and House Bill 1312 to protect immigrant families in the state in light of increasingly aggressive and unlawful immigration enforcement and harassment in several sensitive locations, including daycare centers, public schools and state courthouses.

Below is a breakdown of the new protections in educational institutions, including licensed childcare centers, public K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and state courthouses.

Additionally, HB 1312 includes protections from unlawful immigration enforcement and harassment in hospitals and the Illinois Bivens Act, which allows for civil legal action against any law enforcement officer who knowingly violated the Illinois or United States Constitution. For the full text of these provisions of the law, please visit the Illinois General Assembly website. Also, the Health Care Sanctity and Privacy Law fact sheet by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Licensed Childcare Centers, K-12, and Higher Education 

During regular session, the Safe Schools for All bill (HB 3247), which applies protections for public K-12 schools was passed and signed into law and during veto session, was expanded (HB 1312) to include licensed childcare centers and public institutions of higher education.

Licensed Childcare Centers

Providers must:

  • Adopt clear policies and plans for interacting with law enforcement conducting civil immigration enforcement, including reviewing warrants and subpoenas  
  • Establish procedures for seeking parental consent before releasing personal records, reinforcing trust between families and providers  
  • Maintain updated emergency contact documentation and safe drop-off and pick-up protocols, ensuring children are only released to designated caregivers  
  • Notify families of immigration enforcement activity, within a reasonable time, ensuring transparency during moments of heightened concern  
  • Failure to comply may result in a licensing violation.  
  • Licensed childcare centers must have guidance in place by January 1, 2026. 

For the full text of state protections in licensed childcare centers, visit the Illinois General Assembly website and for more information visit the Illinois Department of Early Childhood.

Kindergarten-12th Grade

The new law:

  • Prohibits excluding students and their parents from schools and school programs based on actual or perceived immigration status. 
  • Prohibits school procedures or measures that have the effect of excluding or discouraging students from attending schools and school programs based on actual or perceived immigration status, including requesting a social security number. 
  • Restricts disclosing and threats to disclose anything related to the immigration status of a child, parent or associated person. 
  • Protects the integrity of the undisturbed classroom environment for students and school communities by requiring schools to craft procedures for ICE and other law enforcement actions at schools and school facilities. 
  • Empowers families to defend their rights through civil action.  
  • Schools must have policies in place by July 1, 2026. 

For the full text of state protections in public K-12 schools, visit the Illinois General Assembly website.

Public Colleges and Universities

The new law:

  • Restricts public universities and colleges from sharing or threatening to share the citizenship and immigration status information of students, employees, and anyone associated with students.  
  • Protects participation in constitutional rights and immigration-related guidance, including, but not limited to, attending Know-Your-Rights training or sharing Know-Your-Rights flyers for all students, faculty, and staff.  
  • Empowers students to defend their rights through civil action.  
  • Requires that public universities and colleges provide immigration enforcement resources, policies, and procedures on their website to help students, faculty, and staff understand their constitutional rights and access immigration-related guidance by January 1, 2026.

For the full text of state protections in state institutions of higher education, visit the Illinois General Assembly website.

State Courthouses

In addition to the school protections passed in HB 1312, the bill also passed the Court Access, Safety, and Participation Act, which protects immigrants in and around state courthouses. The new protections:

  • Prohibit civil arrests (arrests without a judicial order or in response to an emergency) from taking place inside, on the way to, or coming home from, any Illinois courthouse. 
  • Allow for civil damages for false imprisonment, including statutory damages of $10,000 if the person knew or should have known the person detained was attending a state court proceeding. 

For the full text of state protections in and around state courthouses, visit the Illinois General Assembly website.

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