Monday, February 10, 2025

W. Sub. schools prepare for immigration enforcement

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Aurora area schools have begun to make plans in case Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection try to make arrests at their facilities, the Aurora Beacon-News reports.

Aurora, Illinois (David Wilson/Flickr Creative Commons)

A press release from Illinois State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders provided some “non-regulatory guidance,” advising schools about the possibility of ICE or CBP making arrests in schools, formerly considered “sensitive locations.”

“As leaders of public schools, we have both a legal and moral obligation to protect our students’ rights within our buildings,” Mr Sanders wrote Thursday. “ISBE firmly believes that schools should be a safe haven for all students, where students should be able to learn without fear. We can and should do everything within our power to protect our students and their right to learn while in our care.”

Furthermore, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul showed support from the law to Mr Sanders’s statement: “State law does not grant local law enforcement the authority to enforce federal civil immigration laws. This includes participating, supporting, or assisting in any capacity with federal immigration enforcement operations unless federal agents have a criminal warrant or federal law specifically requires it,” he wrote in a press release that offered an official opinion directed at state and local law enforcement agencies.

Public schools in Bridgeport, Connecticut, have similar policies in place, according to an article in Newsweek.

Interim Superintendent Royce Avery reaffirmed that the school district’s immigration enforcement guidelines remain in place, saying that ICE agents and other government officials are prohibited from entering school buildings, boarding buses, or attending school events without prior written approval from the superintendent.

“Every student in Bridgeport, regardless of their immigration status, has the right to feel secure and supported in our schools,” he was quoted as saying.

Abuses from the mass deportation executive orders and ICE raids are already occurring. Shared below is a press conference with Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, who reports that ICE raided a seafood distribution warehouse in his city and detained five people without presenting a warrant, took their pictures, and demanded their IDs, including a military veteran and another US citizen.

ICE raids in Newark are not uncommon, and it was not immediately clear if the three arrests made in this case were part of new enforcement actions or ongoing investigations. But Mr Baraka advised residents of Newark to know their rights before ICE agents showed up.

“We can disagree about whether you support mass deportation or not,” the New York Times quoted him as saying. “But what we must agree on is — the thing that separates this country from many other countries around the world — is the Constitution. … Everyone has a right to due process, and no one can go around these laws.”

Education officials in New Jersey also issued guidance to their schools on appropriate actions if ICE agents show up:

“The New Jersey Department of Education is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring that every student, regardless of immigration status, national origin, or religion, can attend public school safely,” the guidance, which includes a new website, reads. “Under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Plyler v Doe (1982), public schools are constitutionally obligated to provide all children with access to free public education, emphasizing that educating undocumented students is not a choice but a legal responsibility.”

In Aurora, despite uncertainty as to if and when encounters with ICE may occur, East Aurora School District, whose student population is some 90% Hispanic, reminded local families about their right to public education in a similar vein to the advice New Jersey gave to families there.

“[A]ll children in the United States are entitled to equal access to a basic public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their actual or perceived immigration status, or the status of their parents/guardians — a standard upheld by the US Supreme Court in Plyler v Doe, even in instances when a student may be undocumented,” East Aurora School District Superintendent Jennifer Norrell wrote in a letter directed to families in the district.

Paul Katulahttps://news.schoolsdo.org
Paul Katula is the executive editor of the Voxitatis Research Foundation, which publishes this blog. For more information, see the About page.

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