Bay Area schools, families worry about potential ICE activity under Trump law

When rumors spread earlier this month that immigration enforcement activity had been reported in an East San Jose neighborhood, parents living in the country illegally panicked, wondering if it was safe to step on school grounds.

“A lot of moms didn’t want to go pick up their kids,” said G. Durano, a parent at Mt. Pleasant High School who declined to give her full name out of fear of unwanted attention from immigration officers. “They didn’t know whether to go or to send someone to pick up their kids.”

RELATED: How many Bay Area migrants face deportation under Trump immigration crackdown?

Mt. Pleasant High School officials sent a message to families saying their children were safe at school, and the rumors turned out to be false. But now fears are intensifying after President Donald Trump announced this week that federal immigration agencies will be allowed to make arrests at schools and other locations like churches and health care facilities — a practice that’s been prohibited since 2011.

Before Trump took office, local and state officials advised Bay Area schools that they are not required to allow federal immigration agents to access campus without a court order or warrant.

Many California schools — like Mt. Pleasant High — took that a step further, designating their campuses “safe havens” or “safe zones” from immigration activity and reassuring families that anyone is welcome, regardless of immigration status and reminding them that student records are confidential and cannot be shared without a court order or warrant.

But now school leaders are scrambling to understand how Trump rescinding the 2011 policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from accessing school campuses will impact their students and families.

The California Department of Education said Thursday in a statement that the new federal executive order regarding ICE and schools does not change existing state law that schools and staff are not required to allow immigration officers on campus or release student data without a warrant or court order. The department also said state law allows schools to pass policies limiting immigration-enforcing activities on campus because they interfere with a student’s learning.

But the state attorney general’s office said that while state law — Senate Bill 54 — generally restricts school staff from aiding immigration activity, it does nothing to stop federal agencies from conducting immigration activity themselves or prevent the investigation or enforcement of criminal law — regardless of a “sensitive locations” policy.

Bay Area school leaders acknowledged this week they weren’t clear on what exactly the change meant and how it would impact their students.

“There are still a lot of unknowns,” said Michelle Dawson, spokesperson for the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. “Executive orders are subject to challenge and our state officials are actively challenging, therefore it’s hard to understand a potential timeline. … I believe every district’s legal counsel is working to better understand how to best prepare their district going forward.”

Edward Zazueta, the executive director of the Association of California School Administrations, explained that while school leaders are still being advised to prohibit ICE agents from accessing campuses without proper jurisdiction, now the question is whether federal agents will be able to push back under the new Trump policy.

“Whether it’s a student, staff, a parent, this is already having that effect that we were afraid of,” Zazueta said.

Zazueta said he heard from school leaders all over the state Thursday morning that parents were concerned about taking their children to school and students were afraid to attend, although it was too early to tell what impact that had on Bay Area schools’ attendance.

During Trump’s first term in 2017, a father was arrested by immigration agents in Los Angeles after he dropped off his daughter at her school. The case garnered international attention and caused a ripple effect on school communities throughout the state, said Ava Mendoza, director of education equity with the American Civil Liberties Union.

“The next day there were school administrators who were having a tough time trying to rebuild trust in the community because parents didn’t want to leave their homes and they didn’t want their children to leave their homes because they feared immigration would stop them regardless of their immigration status,” Mendoza said.

Lia, a 16-year-old student at Mt. Pleasant who declined to provide her last name out of fear of unwanted attention from immigration officers, said she, along with many of her classmates, don’t feel as safe in the community with Trump’s promises to crack down on immigration and threats of “mass deportations,” although she said she feels safe at school.

In the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration, many Bay Area schools sent out reminders of the resources available to families who could be vulnerable to his immigration policy changes. Several districts launched webpages reminding families of their fundamental rights and what to do if they are approached or detained by immigration officers. San Francisco Unified School District urged potentially impacted families to use legal advocates through the area’s Rapid Response Network and Mt. Diablo Unified School District distributed flyers inviting families to attend an immigration forum and resource fair.

Zazueta said his association is working with the governor and state leaders on ways to assist and protect students, including providing greater flexibility on school attendance — like the state did during the COVID-19 pandemic — and considering options for virtual learning.

Mt. Pleasant parent, Sandy T., who also declined to provide her full name out of fears of unwanted attention from immigration officers, immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1996 and has a work permit, but worries about her loved ones who are living in the U.S. illegally.

“We’ve always lived in the shadows,” she said. “Now it’s as if they’re hunting us, literally.”

While she is afraid when she picks up her daughter from school, she said she’s determined to not let fear consume her.

“I have to stay strong for my daughter. If not, our world could fall apart,” Sandy said. “I don’t want them to steal our dreams, our hopes. You have to keep the faith.”