Vice News
By Colleen Curry
February 10, 2016
The
school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District unanimously
adopted a resolution on Tuesday that bans US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents from coming
onto school property without permission — a move meant to signal to
immigrant students and their families that they are secure while on
campus.
ICE
agents haven't attempted to look for students at the district's
schools, but board members said that some families expressed concern
after ICE detained more than 120
people last month in raids across the country that were meant to
identify and deport illegal immigrants. This sparked rumors that raids
were planned on Los Angeles schools, prompting LA Unified Superintendent
Michelle King to issue a statement that said, "Neither
the Los Angeles Unified School District nor the Los Angeles School
Police Department is aware of any planned raids or other action by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement at any LA Unified school site. The
District welcomes all students and all families and
is committed to supporting their right to live, learn and work in their
communities."
LAUSD
is the country's largest school district by enrollment, and has
frequently advocated on behalf of its immigrant students, including
calling on the federal government
to pass immigration reform legislation.
Steve
Zimmer, president of the LAUSD Board of Education, said that he and the
other board members wanted to reassure worried families in passing the
resolution.
"The
vitriol and hate that presently permeates the immigration debate,
combined with a regrettable change in US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement practices, made it
necessary for the Board of Education to take a strong stand in
solidarity with our families and our communities," Zimmer said in a
statement released after the vote. "Our message is simple and direct:
our schools are safe, welcoming and embracing for all families."
The
resolution specifically mandates that ICE agents must get approval from
the school superintendent ahead of time if they need to visit campuses
for a specific reason,
such as evaluating a school's foreign exchange programs, but they will
not be granted access on unannounced visits or given student data
without clearance.
The
resolution cited a "heightened sense of fear and anxiety" among
district students and families, as well as the need for school grounds
to welcome families who have
questions about immigration. It instructed district staff to not
inquire about a student's or family's immigration status or provide
information about them to ICE.
Teresa
Borden, a staff member at the immigration advocacy group Carecen, said
that the group had consulted with the school board about the unease that
January's ICE raids
triggered in the immigrant community.
"When
something like that occurs, it ignites fear — generalized fear in the
community," she said. "There are parents who keep their children from
school, parents who don't
go to their jobs because of that fear."
Schools
are one of the main places that immigrants interact with government
bureaucracy, she said, so it's important to maintain trust between them.
Caracen, which has
had a long working relationship with LAUSD, regularly sends out
advocacy teams to schools with high numbers of immigrant parents to
explain to them what their rights are, and the group works to ensure
that they continue allowing their children to attend school.
"We
know that ICE has some internal directives that consider schools and
churches sensitive locations, so they're not likely to raid those
locations, but we also know
that a lot of our community is not necessarily trusting of what an
organization like ICE has to say given what their function is," Borden
said, adding that advocates see the new resolution "as a very positive
sign."
Zimmer
echoed those concerns, saying that that parents should not be afraid to
send their children to school or to fill out the necessary forms to
participate in school
activities. He also said the resolution demonstrated the board's
opposition to the recent ICE raids and its "support of humane
immigration reform."
Other
school districts, including the San Francisco Unified School District,
have also publicly promised not to allow immigration agents to carry out
raids on school property.
"The
San Francisco Unified School District, like the City of San Francisco,
is a sanctuary. We do not ask students or families about their
immigration status," SFUSD Superintendent
Richard A. Carranza said in a statement last month. "We are committed
to serving all children and to maintaining a safe and productive
learning environment."
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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