The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are more than 730,000 school-aged children living in the U.S. without legal status, and the Trump administration has said federal agents may enter schools to take undocumented people into custody. Districts nationwide are preparing. The city of Denver has told principals to lockdown their campus if ICE agents try to come in, and San Diego schools say they won’t admit federal officers without a warrant.
Josh Throneburg is a pastor and the father of two kids in Charlottesville public schools. He’s heard reports that students at the high school are on edge – some plotting to act as decoys if ICE agents enter the building.
“Latino-looking kids who have U.S. citizenship were organizing themselves so that if ICE agents entered the school, they would run so that ICE agents would pursue them to give kids who might not have status a chance to actually get away,” he says.
Throneburg’s 15-year-old daughter was adopted from Haiti, and she too is worried.
“You know one of the questions she asked when she got home was, ‘Is it possible that I’ll get taken. I’m an immigrant. I wasn’t born here. Am I at risk?’ This is part of the problem, right? Even if ICE doesn’t come into your schools, even if ICE doesn’t come into your churches, the fact that they’ve been given permission to just creates that environment of fear.”
Charlottesville City Schools say they’ll l protect the rights of all students and staff, adding ICE must provide legal justification to enter its buildings.
In Albemarle County, a district with about 14,000 students, Superintendent, Matt Haas says kids come from all over the world.
“We have students from 100 different birth countries, and we have students who speak 76 languages at home.”
For all of them, he says, privacy and other protections remain in place.
“While at the federal level we’ve had communications that state that they’ve had a change in policy, students legal rights have not changed.”
He knows parents are anxious, and some are keeping students out of school.
“There is fear. There’s worry and concern, and it’s over real issues.”
But he and the districts principals tell them documents would be required before agents from ICE would be allowed in.
“Anybody that comes to school in any form of law enforcement has to have a warrant or a subpoena to get information or have access to a student.”
Some area residents have talked about standing guard in front of schools, but Haas doesn’t think that will be necessary.
Richmond’s superintendent sent an e-mail stating that public schools there will always be a safe haven for students and told kids they should not fear coming to school. He said law enforcement would only be allowed in if it enhances the safety of students and staff. Roanoke’s superintendent cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act in stating that schools cannot share a student’s personal information, nor can they be interviewed by federal law enforcement without permission from parents.