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WASHINGTON — Rep. Robert Garcia (D. Long Beach) and other House Democrats are demanding last week that Homeland Security officials should justify their attempts to speak to two Los Angeles primary school students.
Garcia and 17 other Democrats signed a letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem on Friday, demanding a briefing on the operation.
“If you insist that you are actually targeting a child for deportation and mischeating welfare checks, you will work with law enforcement, and will create fear and undermine your will to undermine public trust,” the lawmaker wrote.
Federal agents appeared last Monday without notice and did not violate the judicial warrants at Russell Elementary School and Lillian Street Elementary School in the Florence Graham area of South Los Angeles. 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. Alberto Carvalho, an agent, said they were there to do a wellness check and falsely claimed that the student’s family had given them permission to contact. The agent identified himself with the U.S. immigration and the Homeland Security Investigation, a man of customs enforcement, but was not wearing uniforms and reluctant to provide official identification, Carvalho said.
Tricia McLaughlin, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told The Times that agents were checking the wellbeing of children that are not accompanied by borders.
“DHS is a major initiative to implement welfare checks on these children to ensure that these children are safe, exploited, abused, and sex trafficking,” she said.
However, staff from the LA Unified School District told lawmakers that four students at Russell Elementary School were “not actually unaccompanied minors,” according to Garcia’s letter.
“This raises serious questions about the truthfulness of your department and the safety of our members,” the lawmaker wrote. “The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that all students have the right to public education regardless of their immigration status. If parents and children do not have access to the school without fear of deportation or harassment, you will deny that right.”
President Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly claimed that more than 300,000 immigrant children are “missing, dead, sexually slaves, or slaves.” The claim appears to be based on a report from the DHS Inspector’s Office, which states that 323,000 children were not provided.
“Children who do not appear in court are considered at a higher risk of human trafficking, exploitation or forced labor,” the report said.
Shortly after Trump took office, his administration declared that immigration agents could be free to arrest in worship services, schools, hospitals, or places previously considered “sensitive.” The new policy revoked a 2011 memo to restrict agents from arresting them in such locations.
Last week, the Los Angeles incident left educators nationwide around the country on protecting immigrant students.
Garcia, who is on the House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee, said federal immigration agents are trying to determine whether this is the first operation at K-12 schools across the country. He believes it is an example of similar behavior to come, and states that the community needs to be prepared to respond, as did staff at these schools.
Garcia said the schools the agents visited serve low-income families living in areas with the country’s highest immigrant and Latino population.
“They are targeting vulnerable communities,” he said. “They’re not true about what they’re doing or the permission they have. It’s really concerning and people need to know.”
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