California is moving quickly to protect undocumented immigrant students who attend elementary school and college campuses, with officials on Monday guiding school leaders, informing parents and raising concerns. Outlined steps for providing mental health support to families.
This reassurance and deployment of resources to public schools, where all children have a right to an education regardless of their immigration status, is aimed at countering President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20th. Trump has repeatedly vowed to order mass deportations to the United States. Addressing what he characterizes as the harm of illegal immigration.
Monday’s California pushback came from Los Angeles Unified School District seniors. said Alberto Carvalho and Atti on the first day of the spring semester. General Rob Bonta.
Carvalho highlighted future training required for employees about assistance and documentation that cannot or should not be provided to federal immigration authorities. The nation’s second-largest school system also plans to provide parents with information cards listing their rights.
The school principal also promoted state-funded mental health support for students, which can be accessed online or by phone. Arrangements can be made directly through the school or online through the district’s Parent Portal.
“These are necessary measures for people who are members of our community, taxpayers of our community, students of our environment, members of our workforce,” Carvalho said.
Mr. Bonta took similar action, publishing guidance for parents as part of which he said information about citizenship or immigration status was never required for school admissions. The second document was created to help school districts comply with state laws that limit state and local government participation in immigration enforcement activities.
“If President Trump attacks the rights of immigrants, I will definitely take action,” Bonta said.
“We’ve been here before,” he said, referring to the first Trump administration. “We’re ready to do it again…We’ve been preparing for weeks and months. [for] Trump’s latest plan for mass deportations and arrests, his insistence on deporting Americans and bringing in the military…his plan is inhumane, illogical and fiscally irresponsible. ”
The Trump-Vance transition team’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Mr. Trump has repeatedly blamed immigrants, legal and otherwise, for crime and economic decline.
Transition kindergarten students at John Mack Elementary School are in class on the first day of second term Monday.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Undocumented college students fear
Anxiety is growing among students and their families, including college students who were brought to the United States as children but lack the documentation to legally live here.
Jenni Hernandez attends Sacramento State University, a campus that welcomes immigrants, in a sanctuary city in a sanctuary state. But the amplified fear she now feels for living in this country without permission draws her back to when she first learned at age 7 that her parents could be deported at any time. It reminded her, she said.
“While many of my colleagues had nightmares about monsters under their beds, I felt pure fear that one day my parents would be gone and I would never know what happened,” Hernandez said. said. Now, she says, “I’m back to that fear.”
“It’s not safe to go anywhere right now.”
Hernandez is one of an estimated 100,000 undocumented college students facing an uncertain future in California, the most of any state. There are an estimated 408,000 undocumented college students nationwide.
Some college students are struggling with the question of whether or not to stay.
“I think people will question the idea of putting yourself out there and pursuing higher education after the election if it means putting yourself and your family at risk,” said the California-based university’s Higher Education Department. Department Manager Madeline Villanueva said. Immigrants Rising is a non-profit organization.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that prohibits colleges from sharing personally identifiable information from student records without the student’s written permission, following guidance from the President’s Alliance on Immigration and the American National Association. It’s a law. of university registrars and admissions officers.
But if a court order or subpoena is filed, the law says universities can be required to disclose information without the student’s consent. ]
The state attorney general’s model policy proposes annually informing students about what FERPA protects, what information is available through school directories, and how to opt out of the directories. The guidance recommends limiting the collection of information about a student’s immigration status or country of origin unless required or required by federal law.
It also recommends that universities implement policies regarding who has access to various campus facilities, such as libraries, school buildings, staff-only or student-only lounges. According to federal law, immigration enforcement officers do not need a warrant to enter a university quad, but they do need a warrant to access a university student’s residence.
Uncertainty increases student anxiety.
“The threat is real and feels like it is intensifying almost every day,” said National Association President Paulette Granberry Russell. Diversity Officer in Higher Education. “Students will be worried about whether they can continue their studies and whether their families will be safe. There is a culture of fear… and we cannot ignore that.”
The University of California has set up a resource page. The university recognized the “uncertainty and anxiety” ahead of Inauguration Day and welcomed students “regardless of their immigration status,” the statement said.
“We are monitoring.” [presidential] “We are following the transition closely and evaluating the potential impact,” it said in a statement.
Many public universities in California offer students and their immediate families access to free immigration legal services through partnerships with local advocacy groups.
At California State University Stanislaus, students can usually schedule an appointment with a lawyer within a few days, said Guillermo Metelin Bock, who coordinates support services for undocumented students. But by mid-November, the slots were fully booked through the end of the year. Students with DACA status are rushing to apply for renewals before President Trump’s inauguration, and students with green cards or with family members who have green cards are applying for naturalization, he said. Ta.
DACA is no longer available
Many of today’s students do not have long-term custody status, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). People had to be at least 15 years old to apply for DACA protection from deportation and obtain work permits. But by the time they were old enough to apply, the program was embroiled in court challenges. We are not accepting new applicants after 2021. Trump unsuccessfully tried to repeal DACA during his first term, but he may try again.
President Trump recently signaled that he would work on a plan to allow Dreamers (people like Hernandez, who were brought to the United States as children) to remain in the country. However, in the same interview, he offered cold comfort by saying: Everything is back to normal. ”
LA Unified’s Sanctuary Initiative
Although the state does not collect data on the immigration status of young students, it is widely believed that their numbers are sizable as well, many of whom are younger siblings of college students.
Mr. Carvalho related a recent conversation he had with a Garfield High School student who proudly wore his military uniform as a member of Garfield High School’s ROTC program.
“He looked as sharp as you could imagine a student in an ROTC uniform,” Carvalho said.
In a private conversation after a school event, the student confessed his fear.
“He said, ‘I don’t know what tomorrow holds for me.’ Today I’m wearing this uniform as a member of ROTC. I want to join the military someday. This is what I want to wear. It’s a uniform, but neither my family nor myself are here legally and I’m scared of not knowing what tomorrow will bring.”
The seven-member elected school board joined Carvalho in directing him through a series of resolutions and proclamations to ensure that Los Angeles Unified is not just an immigrant group, but another group that could face the potential impact of the change. He directed the city to become a sanctuary for members of the LGBTQ+ community. in Washington DC administration
“This board, this administration, is committed to our commitment, our professional and moral responsibility to care for, protect and support our students and their families, regardless of their immigration status,” Carvalho said Monday at John Mack Elementary School. It must not be shaken.” South side of downtown.
“Second, we will work with cities and counties and utilize all available resources to declare our schools protected lands. We will ensure that any law enforcement agency does not We do not allow any kind of immigration action to be taken against students or their families in our custody. This is not just an issue for students and their families. It is an issue for our employees. There is also.”
Los Angeles Unified Assistant Superintendent Alberto Carvalho met with transitional kindergarten students at John Mack Elementary School during the first day of second semester classes on Monday.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Not protected off campus
Even if schools could be made off-limits to immigration enforcement, students, employees, and families would lose some or all of that protection once they leave school grounds. Officials also stressed that it is too early to know what will happen.
LA Unified will distribute information cards to parents outlining their rights, including the right to send their children to school. Employees learn what they need to know to limit immigration officials’ access to campus. For example, immigration officials do not have to be allowed onto K-12 campuses without a warrant. And some types of warrants do not automatically disqualify you from entering the country.
Carvalho hopes he can keep agents off campus completely. We don’t think that’s necessary or appropriate. …We do not believe that any federal agency … should have access to schools to enforce immigration policy terms. ”
He also wants local and state authorities to ensure that children get to and from school safely. —And once again, parents will be at home to greet their children when they come home from school.
State lawmakers are looking for ways to expand protections.
Assembly Bill 49, sponsored by Mr. Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates), would allow school employees to be arrested without providing valid identification, a written statement of purpose, a valid judicial warrant, and a valid judicial warrant. and prohibits employees from allowing federal immigration authorities to enter the campus for any purpose. Proof of approval by the school district superintendent, county department of education superintendent, or designee. Agents will then be limited to areas of campus where there are no students.
Senate Bill 48, introduced by state Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Bell Gardens) and supported by state legislators. Tony Thurmond, director of public education, is trying to extend such protections a mile away from campus.
Bloom is a Times staff writer. Sanchez is a reporter for The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Staff writer Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this report.
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