New CA Bills Would Shield Students From Immigration Enforcement At Schools

CALIFORNIA — As the Trump administration paves the way for immigration enforcement near or in schools, legislators in California are responding with a series of bills meant to shield families from immigration authorities.

The Department of Homeland Security earlier this month reversed a 2011 policy that prohibited immigration authorities from detaining immigrants near locations like schools, child care centers, playgrounds, hospitals and churches.

“The Trump administration has made clear that no place is safe from mass deportations. Students and parents are rightfully scared,” state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, said in a statement.

Under state law, school officials are not required to allow immigration agents to enter schools without a warrant issued by a judge, and state officials have reiterated that all students have a right to a free education, regardless of their or their family's immigration status. But several new bills in California are meant to further insulate schools from immigration enforcement, lawmakers say.

Among them is the Sending Alerts to Families in Education (SAFE) Act, which would require schools and colleges to immediately notify students, parents and faculty if and when immigration officers show up at a school. Introduced by Pérez, who chairs the Senate's Education Committee, the bill envisions those alerts would be sent using existing infrastructure schools already use regularly to alert the community about lockdowns and other safety issues.

“It’s clear President Trump will not respect the sanctity of our schools,” Pérez said. “Therefore, California must take bold action to inform and empower students to make the best decisions about their safety and their family’s safety.”

Other recently introduced California bills include one that would require ICE agents to obtain explicit permission from school leaders, in addition to a warrant, before entering a school. Another would bar law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement actions within a mile of a school, the Press-Enterprise reported.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles office shared images on social media over the weekend showing what it says is personnel participating in unspecified “enhanced targeted operations throughout L.A.” with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

The San Diego DEA office made a similar post, while the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center posted that ICE agents were spotted at a Riverside Home Depot.

However, some other reports and rumors of immigration enforcement activity in the Southland, including raids by ICE, have been unfounded. False or exaggerated reports about immigration raids are designed to terrorize the community, a representative from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Los Angeles told Patch this week.

State and local education leaders in California in the wake of Trumps' inauguration have issued guidance to immigrant students and families about their rights.

“Every child has the right to a free public education, regardless of their immigration status,”Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “I know there is a lot of fear and anxiety around the incoming administration’s anticipated changes to immigration policy, and I want to make sure students, their parents, and their teachers and school administrators are prepared."

Bonta said that all children, regardless of theirs or their family's immigration status, have a right to equal access to free public education. The 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe found that public schools could not request citizenship documentation of students nor deprive children of an education, Education Week reported.

Additionally, Bonta said that parents generally must give consent by law before schools can release students' personal information.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has begun training all staff on how to respond if immigration officers show up at schools and has urged families to carry so-called Red Cards, which instruct people on how to defend their rights in interactions with immigration authorities.

Many other districts across the state have already issued guidance or say they plan to.

For example, the Sacramento-area Folsom Cordova Unified School District issued information about its longstanding directives regarding immigration authorities, which includes directives such as "If an immigration officer approaches you during school time while you are on our campus, direct them to the Principal or school personnel about the information request," KCRA reported.

Los Angeles Unified, San Francisco Unified and Sacramento City Unified are among the school districts that have "sanctuary"-type policies on their books.

In November, the LAUSD board adopted a resolution reaffirming its previous declaration as a "sanctuary district," which stated the district will "aggressively oppose any effort to create federal laws, policies, or practices that require school districts to cooperate with federal agencies and immigration personnel in any way related to immigration enforcement action."

Under the resolution, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was instructed to develop a plan within 60 days outlining the district's support for immigrant students and staff. The plan will "include training for all teachers, administrators, and other staff on how to respond to federal agencies and any immigration personnel who request information about students, families, and staff, and/or are attempting to enter school property, as well as a thorough effort to communicate the district's sanctuary policy and plan to all district families in the language that they speak.

The San Diego Unified School District board adopted a resolution supporting students regardless of immigration status and affirmed that the district would not permit ICE to access its facilities without a warrant, KPBS reported.