WASHINGTON – California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff answered Trump administration officials until May 2 to answer questions about why federal agents tried to speak to two students at two Los Angeles primary schools last week.
The Department of Homeland Security said agents were doing “welfare checks” on students. However, Padilla and Schiff said in a letter Friday that “it terrifies hundreds of thousands of students across Los Angeles and undermines public trust.”
The letter is addressed to Robert Hammer, executive associate director of the Homeland Security Investigation, a US immigration and customs enforcement arm. The senators called for briefings on the nature, scale, purpose of welfare checks, and policies and protocols surrounding child checks.
The letter detailed how the senator would like to know how issues such as training officers, coordinating with victim services, and whether the agent contacted the child’s attorney prior to the in-person visit.
“If you get evidence that led you to believe these children are at risk, your agency has not been referred to the California Department of Human Services and has not coordinated with the school prior to a “welfare check” on potential child welfare or trafficking concerns,” the senator wrote.
House Democrats led by Rep. Robert Garcia (D. Long Beach) wrote a letter Monday to Homeland Security Authority.
Federal agents appeared on April 7th at Russell Elementary School and Lillian Street Elementary School in the Florence Graham area of South Los Angeles without notice and without a judicial warrant. They asked them to talk collectively with five students, first through sixth grade. However, the school’s principal denied access.
According to La Unified Supt. Agent Alberto Carvalho falsely claimed that the student’s family had given permission to contact him. Agents identified themselves in a homeland security investigation.
A LAUSD spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Senator’s letter.
Tricia McLaughlin, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told the Times that agents ensure that children who have not arrived at the border are “safe, non-abused, abused, and sex trafficking.”
“The allegations that an officer lied is wrong,” she said before. “Our law enforcement clearly identified themselves and made it clear that this is a welfare check and not an immigration enforcement action.”
Asked to comment on the Senator’s letter, McLaughlin said “Our law enforcement slander must stop.”
The senator met with immigration and customs enforcement and homeland security investigation officials this week. They seem to have left more questions than answers.
According to their letter, Padilla and Schiff are requesting information on whether agents have arrested, detained or deported a child or their sponsors who were not previously accompanied by them in connection with welfare checks in California and across the country. They also want to know what steps immigration and customs enforcement are taking to deal with their agents’ actions, such as finding out why they lied about receiving permission to talk to their children.
“These types of “welfare checks” scare children and their families rather than promoting their safety,” the senator wrote. “We recommend ending our efforts to carry out ‘welfare checks’ on school grounds and prevent ice agents from visiting or enrolling schools without a warrant. ”
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