Community Corner
Should Huntington UFSD Get Rid Of Its SRO Program?
In a NYT/ProPublica story, the school's SRO officer accused a Huntington High School student of MS-13 affiliation. Then he was deported.
A New York Times/ProPublica article detailing the story of a Huntington High School student named Alex who was accused of being connected to M3-13 at school, leading to his suspension and subsequent arrest and deportation, has left the surrounding community up in arms.
After the article was published in late 2018, the Huntington Union Free School District made a statement on its website. The district called the story "beyond upsetting" and said they "deeply regret" the harm the student's deportation caused Alex's family. Alex was in the United States legally.
The district agreed to reassess their relationship with the Suffolk County Police Department's school resource officer (SRO) program. The SRO officer accused Alex of MS-13 affiliation for wearing blue shoes and drawing a picture of a devil, according to the article. The devil is a symbol commonly associated with the gang, but it also is Huntington's mascot. Alex's mother gave him the blue shoes, the article says.
Find out what's happening in Huntingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The SRO officer passed his "findings" on Alex over to immigration, leading to the student's arrest.
Read more: He Drew His School Mascot — and ICE Labeled Him a Gang Member
The School Board held a meeting on Monday night to discuss Alex's story after the district received such strong criticism. According to News 12, board members say they will review the school's SRO program and consider a new policy so Alex's story doesn't happen to another student.
Find out what's happening in Huntingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
- Sound off below: Does Huntington Need To Get Rid Of Its SRO Program?
In a follow-up at the bottom of the story, ProPublica quoted Huntington High School Class of 2017 valedictorian Steve Yeh: "It feels surreal to have given the graduation speech back in 2017 that was supposed to be about our achievements and our futures, when the very school we were graduating from took away the futures of those who were accused of being gang members with very feeble evidence."
Alex is currently in Honduras, the article says, but fears for his life there and is desperate to come back to Long Island.
Read the full article here.
Image via Huntington UFSD
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