State schools preparing for possibility of immigration raids

NEW HAVEN >> Just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned partly on anti-immigrant rhetoric Connecticut education officials prepared statements and policies indicating they will not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials is the agency comes for their undocumented students.

At the first New Haven Board of Education meeting of 2017, COO Will Clark presented a draft policy to establish a position on protecting undocumented students from raids. The draft policy, he said, was designed by a committee established to research existing policy and law and present a coherent, updated plan for student safety.

“There is currently guidance for the federal authorities to essentially respect and not come into schools and engage in immigration work, but that’s not

the law, so how that may change is something we have to monitor very closely,” Clark said.

In the draft policy presented to the board, it is stated that the U.S. Supreme Court has previously established that undocumented students have a constitutional right to a free public education and that the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 prohibits recipients of federal financial assistance, such as the New Haven Public Schools, from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, students and families also are afforded certain privacy protections, which may not be released without parental consent. According to the NHPS draft policy, existing district policy follows federal and state law that proof of citizenship or immigration status is not required.

The committee resolved that in 2017 schools should update all emergency contact information for students so if federal immigration authorities were to request student information, students and guardians could be informed when deemed appropriate.

Clark said all requests submitted at the school level will be denied and forwarded to the superintendent of schools, who would then require any credentialed federal agents to disclose a signed warrant.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo said he wanted the policy to specifically address how far a school superintendent may go in resisting federal authorities.

“I want to give a strong statement that we are protective of our kids and want to keep our kids in school,” he said. “But you don’t want to break the law, per se.”

Clark said the policy may be subject to change as the committee solicits feedback from the community and a U.S. attorney general is appointed.

“We really want to hear what the community is saying and what they actually want and need versus what I or someone else thinks they want and need,” Clark said.

Board member Darnell Goldson said he was pleased with the proposed policy.

“I don’t want us to just wait for them to take office for us to do it; I want to make a statement on where we stand on these issues,” he said.

Clark listed several community partners, such as the ACLU of Connecticut, for their assistance.

Melvin Medina, advocacy and outreach director for ACLU-CT, said answering questions about undocumented students’ rights is “a natural fit” for the organization.

“There’s a great deal of fear as to what’s coming next, and part of the larger problem here is there hasn’t been a good deal of transparency from the incoming Trump administration. There’s been promises made, Twitter exchanges, but a great deal of people want to know what’s going to happen,” he said. “Both at the national level and state level we have worked on immigration issues.”

Medina said that, although Trump has left Americans scratching their heads as to his plans, education and advocacy work is not candidate-specific.

Medina said that local support should provide encouragement for families and reassure them that local elected officials and their own neighbors support them. Among these community groups are Junta for Progressive Action and Unidad Latina en Acción, both of which have sent representatives to New Haven schools to educate families on their rights.

Junta and ULA hosted a “know your rights” workshop Thursday for families at Hill Central School. Principal Lillian Fontan said the attitudes of the community impact the school environment.

“We’re a real family oriented school here,” she said. “What parents talk about affects the kids.”

The school’s parent liaison, Grecia Marmolejos, said she collaborated with the school’s family resource director Lysie Rodriguez to host the workshop.

At a team meeting, Marmolejos, administrators shared just how many worries and concerns parents in the Hill Central community expressed.

In Spanish, Rodriguez told the crowd of approximately 30 people that their worries are the school community’s worries.

Jesús Moralez, a volunteer with ULA, said he sees more uncertainty than fear.

“We want people to be as informed as possible,” he said. “People assume because they’re undocumented they have no rights, which turns them into targets.”

Ana Maria Rivera-Forastieri, director of advocacy at Junta, screened a video for a crowd reviewing certain rights, such as that they need not open a door for or tell federal agents or police anything more than their name without a warrant.

“Unfair immigration enforcement has been happening for a long time, even under President Obama’s administration,” he said.

Mark Ojakian, the president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, and the 17 college and university presidents within that system, sent signed letters to all members of the Connecticut congressional delegation urging support of the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy Act on Jan 13. The bipartisan BRIDGE Act, introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would extend provisional protective presence for three years to any undocumented immigrant meeting the criteria outlined in President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy.

“This legislation builds on years of effort at the state and local levels to ensure access and safety to some of our most vulnerable students,” Ojakian wrote. “Above all, it is a testament to the values on which our country and our state were founded and the respect and dignity with which we should treat all those who live here.”

Spurred by a student demonstration one week after Election Day demanding that Yale University adopt Sanctuary City policies similar to those of the city of New Haven, President Peter Salovey announced his support for the BRIDGE Act and for university police to adopt sanctuary campus policies similar to those of the New Haven Police Department in an op-ed in the Yale Daily News.

“I have asked Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins to review the department’s formal written procedures to make sure they reflect these practices, a request which he wholeheartedly accepts,” Salovey wrote. “Any law enforcement agent who wishes to enter our campus is expected first to check in with the Yale Police Department. Further, Yale does not permit access to our campus by law enforcement officers unless they have a search warrant.”

Connecticut Association of Boards of Education Deputy Director Patrice McCarthy said that, in order to register for school, students need only produce evidence that they reside in the community, whether it be a library card or a phone bill.

Although Trump made a nebulous promise to deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records upon taking office in a November 2016 interview with “60 Minutes,” according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security statistics, the Obama administration has conducted approximately 2.8 million deportations, the most of any president.

“There is currently guidance for the federal authorities to essentially respect and not come into schools and engage in immigration work, but that’s not the law, so how that may change is something we have to monitor very closely.” — COO Will Clark “There’s a great deal of fear as to what’s coming next, and part of the larger problem here is there hasn’t been a good deal of transparency from the incoming Trump administration. There’s been promises made, Twitter exchanges, but a great deal of people want to know what’s going to happen. Both at the national level and state level we have worked on immigration issues.” — Melvin Medina, advocacy and outreach director for ACLU-CT “We want people to be as informed as possible. People assume because they’re undocumented they have no rights, which turns them into targets.” — Jesús Moralez, a volunteer with ULA