Hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles Unified students return to school today, just days after federal immigration agents reportedly detained and drew their guns on a student outside a San Fernando Valley school in a case of mistaken identity.
The incident prompted LAUSD Supt. Alberto Carvalho to call for a halt to immigration enforcement actions near school campuses.
But even before this incident, agents with the Department of Homeland Security attempted to enter two South L.A. schools in the spring. Administrators at the schools denied them access.
Now, the district has released a Family Preparedness Care Package that provides information for free legal resources, guides for important documents and contact numbers, and details on upcoming “Know Your Rights” workshops. The district is reaching out to thousands of families to offer new transportation options and other resources before the first day of school.
Community groups like Unión del Barrio and the Association of Raza Educators have also launched a series of trainings on how to protect students, faculty, staff and families from immigration enforcement actions.
These trainings cover what to do if U.S. Immigration agents are near their campus, how to identify agents representing different federal branches of immigration enforcement, and how to patrol neighborhoods for ICE activity.
Here are a few steps educators and school staff can take to ensure the safety of their students:
Learn the differences between a judicial warrant and an immigration warrant
At a recent training for educators, Lupe Carrasco Cardona, who chairs the Association of Raza Educators in L.A., stressed how important it is for school workers to know the difference between a valid judicial warrant, which authorizes a search of nonpublic areas, and an immigration warrant, which does not carry the same authority.
According to the National Immigration Law Center, ICE or CBP agents may not enter any nonpublic areas without a valid judicial warrant or explicit consent to enter.
“If an ICE or any other immigration agency officer comes to your address demanding entry to search your premises or seeking to obtain evidence and the officer has only an immigration warrant, you may refuse the officer entry and refuse to comply with the warrant because it does not grant the officer authority to enter or conduct a search,” according to the National Immigration Law Center.
A valid judicial warrant must:
- Be issued by a judicial court
- Be signed by a state or federal judge or magistrate
- State the address of the premises to be searched
- Be executed within the period specified on the warrant
By contrast, an immigration warrant:
- Is issued by a Department of Homeland Security agency
- Is signed by an immigration officer or an immigration judge
- Bears a title that will contain the word “Alien”
- States that the authority to issue the warrant comes from immigration law
Organize a “walking school bus”
LAUSD educator Ingrild Villeda introduced the idea of “walking school buses” at a recent training focusing on how to protect students, staff and families from ICE raids.
A network of Union del Barrio educators released a guide, outlining how to launch a “walking school bus,” which would involve school staff and volunteers walking with students and families to and from school to protect them from federal immigration agents.
They recommend:
- Connecting with educators and parents
- Setting up a group chat on Zoom, Signal, or by meeting at a local park
- Mapping a route, detailing the radius that will be covered
- Designating drop-off sites and where walking escorts will be stationed.
Questions to consider:
- How will students identify walking escorts?
- How many volunteers are available?
- Will there be a volunteer rotation?
- Are tools like whistles or bullhorns available to identify ICE?
Educators in the guide recognize that “this may be kids’ first time out with their families all summer,” and encourage walking escorts to “have some fun school pens or notebooks or stickers to hand out.”
Help parents with the caregiver affidavit and emergency contact forms
Teachers and school staff can help inform parents about the importance of a caregiver authorization affidavit, a legal document that empowers a caregiver to make decisions regarding a minor’s education and/or medical care. In the context of immigration, caregiver affidavits can ensure the well-being of children.
“If a parent is deported and they want their children to be reunited with them, that needs to be stipulated [in the caregiver affidavit form], especially if the student is a U.S. citizen. You can’t just take them across the border. … That needs to be in the plan,” said Carrasco Cardona, who works at Edward R. Roybal Learning Center.
She also noted the importance of including:
- Names of trusted adults
- Details about medications, health conditions
- Anything else that would prevent children from entering the foster care system if they are separated from their families
Educators can access caregiver affidavit forms through LAUSD’s “Family Preparedness Care Package,” which offers guidance on how to create a family preparedness plan. The district advises families to update their emergency contact information by visiting the school’s main office or by using the Parent Portal to update phone numbers.
Carrasco Cardona said school workers can help disseminate this information “to ensure the welfare of our students.”
Create a phone tree or join a rapid response network
Phone trees can be a way to quickly get in contact with a large number of people, whether it’s through text messaging or other phone applications like WhatsApp. Through a phone tree, each person who receives a call or text then calls or messages several other designated people.
Carrasco Cardona said phone trees could include:
- UTLA members in leadership roles
- Classified school staff
- Parents who are highly involved
“So that when we do have ICE near the school, we’re able to get that out,” she added.
When DHS agents attempted to enter two South L.A. elementary schools earlier this year, Lorena Street Elementary School teacher Adrian Tamayo got real-time information about those incidents by being part of a rapid response network communicating through Signal.
That network included educators, community members and staff from schools in Boyle Heights, East L.A., El Sereno, and South L.A. Many were members of UTLA, the union representing about 35,000 workers in the L.A. Unified School District.
“We knew about it first thing in the morning,” said Tamayo, who is the chair of UTLA East Area. “As soon as I saw that, I went to my administrator.”
