Make nice with city after agents visit Qns. school
MAYOR de Blasio had a “productive conversation” with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Monday, four days after federal agents visited a Queens public school to inquire about a student.
The controversial school stopover drew fire from critics of President Trump’s immigration policies and prompted city Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to visit the school personally Monday morning to reassure parents that their kids are safe.
Amid the outcry over the agents’ visit, the city and the federal government issued contradictory accounts about what happened at Public School 58, also known as the School of Heroes, on Thursday.
The city says school staffers turned the agents away after the feds failed to produce warrants. But Homeland Security Department officials said the agents were not turned away from the school, and that they were given the information they sought.
Much of the mayor’s 55-minute talk with Kelly focused on anti-terror funding for the city, City Hall said.
The homeland secretary told the mayor his agency will follow protocols that don’t involve sweeps or visits to hospitals, places of worship or schools, de Blasio’s office said in a statement.
Kelly also sought to reassure de Blasio that Homeland Security isn’t targeting schools — and pledged to work with the mayor to keep the department’s enforcement efforts from spilling into education facilities.
Federal officials earlier insisted the Homeland Security agents did nothing wrong in visiting the Maspeth school.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials said the purpose of the visit was to check facts about the enrollment of the publicly unidentified student at PS 58, and staffers in the building confirmed to agents that the student did not attend the school.
“They spoke to school administrators and left at the conclusion of the conversation,” a statement issued by Homeland Security said. “They were not barred from the property nor asked to leave.”
Nevertheless, Fariña visited the Grand Ave. school with Nisha Agarwal, commissioner of the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, to let families know the city will protect immigrant students.
“We’re here to reassure parents that our schools are safe,” Fariña said.
“The protocols we have put in place to protect immigrant families particularly are not only being reinstated, but they have been instated and will be reinstated over and over again,” she added.
PS 58 parent Yufang Zhu, 35, from China, said she has a 6-year-old son in first grade. She said she has a green card, but the incident shook her up.
“I’m scared,” she said. “It’s awful. They (can) destroy a family. They have a right to stay here.
“As a mother, if somebody takes my child from me, I would be heartbroken. My world would be destroyed. Who could I call for help? Maybe only God could save us.”
Cynthia Li, 35, who has a 7-year-old son in first grade and an 8-year-old daughter in third grade, felt the same way.
“I’m very nervous,” she said. “It’s not helpful for the kids or their parents, too. The school needs to protect the kids.”
Agarwal said city agencies, including schools, don’t ask about immigration status.
“Federal law enforcement cannot get into city property, and schools in particular, without having the right paperwork,” she said.