Sanctuary School Advocacy and Protection of Immigrant Education

Danny R. Gonzalez
Aug 22, 2017 · 7 min read

Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen living in the U.S. for 25 years, was detained after taking one of his daughters to school and sent to an immigration detention center with a deportation order. Two previous misdemeanor offences from nearly 10 years ago were the reasons agents detained him. Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) detained him in front of his fourteen-year-old daughter in Highland Park, a few blocks away from his daughter’s school. This hardworking immigrant providing for his family was at great risk of being deported, even if his children were protected and provided a public education. It is sensitive education and immigration situations like this that reveal the necessity for schools to be save-havens for students and their families and advocate against unconstitutional immigration practices. All schools should be sanctuary places with their protocols and actions firmly supported through America’s legislative history protecting immigrant education, and the benefits gained from allowing immigrant education.

Rocky Legislative Relationship

Immigration and Education have always had a turbulent relationship throughout America’s legislative history when it comes to protecting schools involving immigrant education. The 1982 decision of Plyler v. Doe emphasizes that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education based on their immigration status. This uneasy 5–4 decision was a tough decision then, and it reveals the continuing controversy within this education and immigration intersection. This secured equal access to K-12 education for immigrants despite their status and state officials attempting to pass anti-immigration policies. The final decision was based on the application of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that no state shall deny equal protection under the law, even on immigrant residents lacking citizenship. In addition, it stated that “the illegal alien of today may well be the legal alien of tomorrow,” and that immigrant children without education face pre-existing “disadvantage as a result of poverty, lack of English-speaking ability, and undeniable racial prejudice. . . will become permanently locked into the lowest socio-economic class”. Blocking immigrant education will only feed the vicious cycle of under-educated individuals and families residing in America.

Further immigration protection was added by Obama in 2012 as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which gives reprieve from deportation and work permits for those who arrived as children and meet the additional DACA requirements. The benefits immigrants receive from DACA, like better paying jobs or a driver’s license, gives them greater power to achieve not only their goals, but they contribute to the country as a whole with their increased income. In Addition, the children that qualify are able to participate in public education and further contribute to American society as they grow up and graduate. This victory for Obama and immigrants, after unsuccessfully passing the DREAM Act, was a compromise and achievement that greatly helped immigrants who qualified under DACA. While these are great legislative victories that support protecting immigrant’s rights in public education, there is also research that displays the positive benefits of immigrant education.

Immigrant Education Benefits

The Association of American Colleges and Universities stated in their article, “Facts & Figures- Immigrants and Higher Education,” that immigrants and their U.S. born children account for 1 in 4 people in America. The article further states that foreign born adults in the U.S. hold Bachelor Degrees at the same rate as native born adults and are more likely to have advance degrees beyond that. This points out the obvious fatal flaw in Trump’s claims towards immigrant’s having a negative impact on education. The reality is that most immigrants are hardworking and beneficial to America, and fight hard to succeed and combat this xenophobic narrative.

The Trump Era

In Philip E. Wolgin’s article, “The High Cost for Ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” it states that if Trump were to remove DACA, the estimated loss would be 433.4 billion in US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over a decade. This estimation is based solely on ending DACA and does not include the mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants that President Trump desires. This would have a huge negative impact on the US economy as well as the future generation of American immigrants in public education. Sanctuary schools are of grave importance because these immigration practices have a tremendous impact on immigrants living within the U.S, but they also impact many Americans economically because of the loss of GDP. These immigrant education statistics and previous legislation are strong counter-evidence points against Trump’s demeaning narrative of immigrants in America.

Apart from the statistics, there is a deeper social impact on the community from this type of anti-immigrant rhetoric. From undocumented law students to undocumented grade-school students, fear has been spread throughout many immigrants living within America. This can affect student performance as well as attendance in schools that may contain more immigrants than others. This evidence provided further clarifies that immigrant education is greatly beneficial to the United States, and it is counter-intuitive for America to apprehend these “dangerous” individuals and their families. However, more needs to be done on a social, educational, and policy level to further protect these immigrant students in sanctuary schools.

Hope for Los Angeles Immigrants

The National Immigration Law Center have created resolutions for K-12 schools in California, K-12 schools nationwide, and one for colleges nationwide for staff and faculty to protect their student’s education. The American Civil Liberties Union created a “sanctuary toolkit” to help roll-out sanctuary practices among schools in America. These provide hope for immigrant education within cities enacting these policies against the Trump regime. Federal officers rely on consent and without a warrant, health, or safety emergency they cannot enter a sanctuary campus to interrupt the education time of all students present based solely on one’s immigration status. These education protocols created by schools and organizations are for the protection of the students, and further protect the student’s family from falling victim to the new immigration practices enacted by President Trump. These sanctuary proposals are key for the future of the immigration and education intersect, especially if the Trump Administration does not protect and faithfully execute DACA. If ICE were to disregard schools’ sanctuary status and apprehend immigrants in and around schools, effective sanctuary protocols and actions taken against this are needed for student and family protection.

Sanctuary School Protocols

Some schools and universities have already advocated against these immigration practices, and they have self-proclaimed themselves as sanctuary schools in support of immigrants furthering their education. The American Civil Liberties Union has proposed a sanctuary school protocol for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on how to protect students from ICE agents, and how to respond to ICE agents making inquiries about specific students or student families. They require community coordinated response, immigration lawyers, training for staff, and pre-formulated letters for verified and unverified ICE activity near the school. It is necessary to increase security at campus entrances, increase their hours, and train them on denying ICE officials entrance. If ICE request access to a student, parent, or staff member the administration must request their names, badge numbers, supervisors phone number, and any legal documents from outside the campus. ICE officials unfortunately may still be given access to enter the school, in which case the school is placed on lock-down until they leave. If ICE activity is rumored and verified around the school, the school is then placed on lock-down, staff is notified, and security patrols gates and allows fleeing community members in as part of the “policy of temporary refuge.” This can really help fleeing family members dropping their kids off at school, like Romulo was doing prior to his apprehension. If a student or their family is detained outside of school, administration will verify the facts and respect the family’s privacy. If the detained students or family member are facing deportation proceedings the administration will use available funds for legal assistance, and if deportation is imminent the school will publicly detest the wrongful deportation efforts. All of these protocols go above and beyond too further protect the students and members of the community from becoming victimized. These model ACLU sanctuary policies enacted and advocated among many California schools are the key to further protecting students and family from the increasing unjust immigration practices near places of education.

The Future of Immigrant Education

Most immigrants are living with the lingering fear of deportation each day, face the real possibility of it happening, and they may feel distrust for those not part of their community. Places of education must be seen as a community to protect those within it and allow those affiliated to advance in life, regardless of their immigration status. All schools must advocate and enact sanctuary policies, like LAUSD, to protect students, their family, and the future of America from ambitious immigration officers following the current federal agenda. While issues like Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez’ may arise in the current political climate, it is important to remember that legislative history and education statistics support immigrant education and sanctuary policies. It is equally important to resist legislation that threatens immigrant education advancement. The DREAM Act of 2017 has been introduced to the Senate in an expressive response against President Trump’s threats to end DACA. This proposed act is similar to DACA and provides a path to permanent residence status. Future immigration and education policy, like The DREAM Act of 2017, supported by the American people and sanctuary school’s advocacy can provide further protection and traction to defend students and families against these unconstitutional immigration practices. These sanctuary schools are supported through legal, factual, and morally-just means, and they must be expanded to protect the benefits of immigrant education and its constituents for a better America.

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