Education Week - March 1, 2017 - 12

Murky Future
For DACA
Educators
Action for Childhood Arrivals, or
DACA, an Obama-administration
policy that grants temporary deportation reprieves and work permits
to people brought to the United
States illegally as children.
During the 2016 campaign,
Trump promised to repeal the executive order the day he took office. Since the election, he's been
less clear about his intentions, but
recently expressed that DACA "is a
very, very difﬁcult subject."
It's one of the most difﬁcult subjects
I have because you have these incredible kids," Trump said last month in a
news conference. Days later, administration ofﬁcials announced a massive
expansion of immigration enforcement and said law-abiding DACA
recipients would not be targeted for
deportation.
But until the Trump administration announces its long-term plans
for the young immigrants, Gonzalez
and other undocumented teachers
across the country remain in limbo.
They fear that, with the stroke of
a pen, the president could immediately revoke their status or sunset
the program by preventing current
deferred action recipients from renewing their protections. They are
also worried about family members
who aren't protected by DACA.
And recent immigration enforcement actions have only amplified
their uncertainty.

Can Schools
Offer
Sanctuary?
By Corey Mitchell

As the Trump administration
aggressively ramps up
deportations of undocumented
immigrants, some K-12
leaders have pledged to protect
the rights and privacy of
students who don't have legal
immigration status. Some vow
schools are "sanctuaries" where
educators won't cooperate with
authorities to identify or take
action against undocumented
students and families. But the
fast-moving, politically charged
situation has also created
confusion for educators about
what they can and can't do.

Michael Stravato for Education Week

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

In a series of raids conducted last
month, immigration authorities arrested hundreds of undocumented
immigrants in at least a half-dozen
states, including California, marking the ﬁrst large-scale enforcement
of President Trump's Jan. 25 order
to crack down on undocumented
immigration. As part of the sweeps,
agents detained and threatened to
deport a 23-year-old Seattle man
who received deferred action protection. Authorities alleged he has ties
to gangs, a charge his lawyers deny.
"Suddenly, everything is uncertain
again, so the constant stress...you
can't even describe it," said Alexis
Montes Torres, a Teach For Amer-

ica corps member in the Houston
area. "It's very bizarre to think that
I could be going back to a country
that I don't really know, and I don't
really understand."
Gonzalez and Torres are among
100 undocumented Teach For
America members who are teaching nearly 6,000 students across 11
states. Amid the uncertainty, TFA is
offering free legal assistance to its
members and its 46 alums who are
also DACA protected.
TFA has already accepted close to
40 undocumented corps members
for next school year. But if DACA
is repealed without a replacement,
the organization will have to put off

What are "sanctuary" schools?
The phrase is a bit of a misnomer. Resolutions
passed by school boards in three so-called sanctuary districts-Clark County, Nev., Los Angeles
Uniﬁed, and Pittsburgh-don't even include the
word. The resolutions refer to school grounds as
"safe" places, spaces, or zones for students, staff,
and parents regardless of immigration status.
The policies in most districts afﬁrm that schools
will do everything within their legal power to
protect student privacy, including barring the
release of information about immigration status unless there is parental consent, or if federal
agents produce a warrant, subpoena, or similar
court order.
What else can schools do to protect the rights of
undocumented students?
Schools must balance two sometimes dueling
obligations: ensuring student safety and privacy
and cooperation with federal ofﬁcials as required
by law. Lawyers say schools can accomplish
those goals by limiting immigration authorities'
access to campuses and providing information
to families on their rights under district and federal policies.
Lawyers for both immigrant advocacy groups
and school systems acknowledge that families
may view the word "sanctuary" literally and
overestimate the legal protections afforded to
them in schools. When agents want access to
a campus or information on students, for example, the resolutions in Clark County, L.A.
Uniﬁed, and Pittsburgh require the requests
to go through a superintendent's ofﬁce or a dis-

12 | EDUCATION WEEK | March 1, 2017 | www.edweek.org

assigning them to work in a school.
Corps members need valid work
permits and the ability to work at
least two full school years, spokeswoman Kathryn Phillips said.
The organization began hiring
the so-called DACA-mented teachers in 2013 in a nod to the demographics in many K-12 classrooms.
"Having a teacher who is able to
identify and share the same background and the same immigrant
experience as our students was very
important," said Viridiana Carrizales, the director of DACA corps
member support.
Gonzalez was honored by the White
House Initiative on Educational Ex-

trict's legal department. But the resolutions also
make clear that campus police will assist federal
agents as required by law if called upon to do so.
"ICE is a federal immigration agency and they
do have legal authority to enforce immigration
law and there could be scenarios where ICE
could access campus," said Jessica Hanson, a lawyer with the National Immigration Law Center.
When are federal immigration agents allowed to
approach or question students, staff, or parents on
school campuses?
Not often, but it's permitted when circumstances call for such action. A 2012 Immigration
and Customs Enforcement memorandum-
known as the "sensitive locations" memo-prohibits agents from conducting enforcement activities on school campuses unless high-ranking
federal authorities give prior approval. The
memo also allows for agents to make a case
that they need urgent access to a school, but oftentimes school ofﬁcials have standing to push
back, said Alyson Sincavage, a lawyer with the
American Immigration Lawyers Association.
So, are the "sanctuary" or "safe" school
declarations merely symbolic measures?
No, lawyers say, because districts that haven't
passed resolutions may not be aware of the legal
protections available to students. Districts that
willingly collaborate with immigration ofﬁcials
without court orders, in violation of federal law,
leave themselves open to legal challenges.
A case study in what schools should not do
took place more than a decade ago in the Al-

Alexis Montes Torres,
a Houston teacher, is among
the more than 700,000
undocumented immigrants
currently shielded from
deportation and eligible
to work legally under the
deferred action policy.

buquerque, N.M., district. In 2004, city police
assigned to work in schools called Border Patrol agents, who questioned three students
and found out they were undocumented. The
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund sued,
reaching settlements with the district and city
police department on behalf of the students.
Albuquerque developed a policy that remains a
model and the city's police department barred its
ofﬁcers from "stopping, questioning, detaining,
investigating, or arresting" students younger
than 18 on any immigration matter while on or
in the vicinity of public school grounds.
Are ICE agents currently arresting students or
parents on or near campuses?
Federal ofﬁcials say no. But undocumented
immigrants and advocates are still worried.
Two immigrants were arrested after leaving
a church-run shelter in Virginia last month,
raising concerns because churches, like schools,
funerals, protests, and weddings, are among the
"sensitive locations" where agents are supposed
to be barred from searching, interviewing or arresting potentially undocumented immigrants.
Amid student and family fears after immigration raids took place last month in neighborhoods near schools, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
district in North Carolina issued a statement
that schools and bus stops are "at this point considered to be safe from" enforcement activities
involving students based on the district's discussions with federal authorities. However, that
same letter reminded families that the district
has no power to control or direct the work of any
law enforcement agency.

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Education Week - March 1, 2017

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