Marin schools stress migrant safety amid Trump crackdown
Responding to hard-line deportation policies by the Trump administration, several school districts in Marin are affirming their “sanctuary” status to strengthen protections for immigrant students and their families.
On Monday, San Rafael City Schools became the latest local district to adopt a resolution declaring itself a save haven.
“This resolution reaffirms our deep commitment to fostering inclusive and equitable environments where all students, staff and families feel valued, safe and supported,” the district’s superintendent, Carmen Diaz Ghysels, said in a note to parents about the board’s action.
“It is grounded in our unwavering dedication to ensuring the constitutional right to public education for every child, regardless of their immigration status, national origin, ethnicity, race, religion, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation,” Ghysels said.
The Novato Unified, Shoreline Unified and Miller Creek school districts adopted similar resolutions recently.
The resolutions follow Trump’s announcement last week that federal immigration agencies will be allowed to make arrests at schools and other locations like churches and health care centers — a practice that’s been prohibited since 2011.
Trump said in an executive order he was rescinding the 2011 policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from accessing school campuses. It was not immediately clear what effect the order will have.
Marin school officials said they would stand strong to defend their students and families.
“We know that this is a worrisome and challenging time for many families in our schools,” Ken Lippi, senior deputy superintendent at the Marin County Office of Education, said Tuesday.
“Working with community partners, our families are being supported and advised to know their rights, make emergency family plans and stay in close communication with their schools,” Lippi said. “We also want to help make sure that our families continue to seek the health, nutrition and social services supports available in our community.”
The California Department of Education said the new federal executive order does not change state law that says 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 enforcement activities on campus because they interfere with student learning.
Lippi added that school leaders are being provided with guidance on interacting with immigration agents and ensuring that the student privacy and confidentiality rights are protected.
“Education and state laws make it clear that all children in our community have an absolute right to the education and services our schools provide,” Lippi said.
Nonetheless, the California Attorney General’s Office said that while a 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.
Edward Zazueta, the executive director of the Association of California School Administrations, said that while school leaders are still being advised to prohibit ICE agents from accessing campuses without proper jurisdiction, the question now 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 that parents are concerned about taking their children to school and students are afraid to attend, although it was too early to tell what effect that has had on schools’ attendance.
At the College of Marin and Dominican University of California in San Rafael, officials are taking the threat seriously.
“Students have access to information about their rights should they be questioned by immigration or other officials and faculty and staff have instructions on how to respond appropriately if approached,” Jonathan Eldridge, the College of Marin president, said Tuesday.
“My office is in close contact with legal counsel at Immigrant Legal Defense should the need to support any member of our community arise,” Eldridge said.
Nicola Pitchford, the president of Dominican University, agreed.
“As required by California state law — and consistent with our university commitment to advocating for educational access for all, regardless of background — we have clear and specific policies for access to campus and to student information,” Pitchford said.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents Marin in Congress, issued a scathing statement Tuesday about Trump’s recent executive orders, calling them “dictatorial power grabs.”
Among other orders, Huffman specifically called out Trump’s freeze on billions of dollars in federal grants and loans that were already approved by Congress, and his firing of more than a dozen federal inspectors general who act as government watchdogs in various departments.
“We cannot allow this dangerous power grab to be lost in the fog of confusion as Trump bombards us with one extreme executive order after another,” said Huffman, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael.
“What Trump is doing here, especially in conjunction with last week’s shocking midnight purge of inspectors general, is crystal clear: he is setting the stage to operate as a king, with no oversight or accountability,” Huffman said.
Jack Wilkinson, president of the Marin County Republican Central Committee, found the concerns about ICE access to schools was “more than much ado about nothing.”
“They’re not going to send stormtroopers into schools, hospitals or churches,” he said. “They don’t have the time.”
An exception would be if a family includes an immigrant who is a convicted criminal, he said.
“If you’ve broken the law, then you are fair game to be arrested,” Wilkinson said. That includes, he said, anyone who has come to the U.S. illegally.
“If you’ve broken into this country without papers, then you have broken the law,” Wilkinson said. “This worry is just another attempt fo deflect attention from the fact that the Democrats have fallen apart.”
The Bay Area News Group contributed to this story.