New immigration guide for schools

State sets up protocol for shielding students if agents try to detain them on campus.

SACRAMENTO — As the fight over California’s immigration laws intensifies, Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Friday released a policy guide for school officials that lays out how they can protect students from immigration enforcement on school grounds.

The guide details the steps school officials should take if federal immigration agents try to detain someone on campus, or if a child’s parents have been detained or deported. It also instructs schools on how to shield the immigration status of students and their family members, and illustrates the kinds of court records federal officials must present before entering campuses.

The policies are the result of a new state law that was part of a legislative package passed last year to safeguard immigrants here illegally from President Trump’s call for increased deportations.

The schools guide was unveiled a day after Becerra sent law enforcement agencies their own guidelines on how to follow the state’s immigration laws, one of which the Trump administration is challenging in federal court. The all-Republican Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to try to join the federal lawsuit. State officials say about 250,000 students enrolled in California public schools do not have legal documentation to be in the country and 750,000 statewide have a parent who is living in the country illegally.

The guide also includes a “Know Your Educational Rights” handout for students that also will be available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Korean and Tagalog.