School district leaders and state lawmakers are shaping policies on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) access to schools.
Last month, the San Diego Unified School District board adopted a resolution reaffirming that it’s a welcoming district for all students. The district also published a webpage with resources for immigrant and refugee students and families.
“We recognize that students bring their whole selves into our classrooms, their cultures, their dreams, their fears, and we have to meet them with unwavering care,” Interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said at a Dec. 17 meeting.
The board’s resolution said the district would not permit ICE to access its facilities without a warrant. State lawmakers are proposing additional requirements.
Assembly Bill 49 would require a warrant, a written statement of purpose and permission from a district’s superintendent or a day care center’s director.
“I introduced Assembly Bill 49 to send a message to all of our immigrant students, immigrant families throughout the state of California, that we have their backs,” said Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Democrat who represents the South Bay area of Los Angeles.
The bill would also prohibit ICE from accessing facilities where children are present.
“This can be incredibly traumatic, and so we want to keep our students — first and foremost — front of mind,” Muratsuchi said. “Regardless of how we feel about immigration, about border policy … I'm going to be emphasizing that this is about kids.”
Current ICE policy suggests that officers avoid arrests and searches at schools and other “sensitive locations.” The Department of Homeland Security named other protected areas in 2021, including school bus stops, playgrounds, child care centers, foster care facilities and group homes.
NBC News reported that President Donald Trump plans to end that policy.
“If an ICE agent gets a warrant to come onto campus, that may be an issue that has to be decided, ultimately, in a court of law,” Muratsuchi said. “We want to send a strong message that here in California, we’re going to do everything possible to fight to protect our students.”
Tammy Lin is a professor and supervising attorney for the University of San Diego School of Law’s immigration clinic. She said threats of mass deportation can lead to lower attendance.
“When you have this rhetoric, it scares these communities into not sending their kids to school, which impacts everything else,” she said. “Enrollment rates may drop, which impacts the funding for that school, which impacts the district. It goes all the way down the line.”
Muratsuchi and Lin said it’s important for families to remember that everyone has a right to free public education and due process, even if they don’t have legal status.
