On Friday, Dec. 20 the Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent, Enikia Ford Morthel, sent a letter out to the community titled “Supporting our Undocumented Students and Families.” Morthel acknowledged concerns regarding potential ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids and deportations as President Donald Trump entered office. School Board Director Ana Vasudeo expressed similar concerns, saying, “My concern for undocumented students is that with mass deportations and raids in communities, there will be irreparable trauma inflicted on generations of children. We’ve already seen these impacts in countries such as Kern and Tulare counties where, due to recent immigration raids, there has been an increase in student absences in schools. Immigrant families are fearful of sending their children to school and accompanied by increased anxiety the increase in immigration enforcement/ICE raids during the Trump Era will have terrible impacts on the academic and emotional state of undocumented students.”
The email from the Superintendent provided a list of documents students might need in emergencies and reminded community members of the current school board policy that protects undocumented BUSD students.
Policy 5111.4 - Protection of Undocumented Students- was adopted in 2016 after Trump was first elected. The policy states that BUSD cannot deny students education based on their immigration status or create a registry based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. The district agreed to not partake in any agreements or disclose any information regarding citizenship with local, state, or federal law enforcement agencies unless it is authorized by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If the district receives an informational request about a student, they will document it and notify the superintendent and their family immediately. Finally, the policy states that the district believes that immigration enforcement officials are extremely disruptive to a learning environment and that the district will deny officials access to campus or school documents.
Ty Alper, a former school board director, helped pass this policy in 2016. He said the hardest part of passing it was having to research the law quickly to ensure that it was legal. “The easy part was getting the community and board to rally around the need to protect our undocumented students, and other members of the public school community, whose lives and livelihoods were at risk from the incoming administration,” Alper said.
Samaliya Manda, a student at BHS shared her reaction to the policy. “I think they are currently enough, but I think they could be maybe rectified a little bit to keep students more safe,” Manda said.
Trump vowed the “largest deportation” in U.S. history. He recently announced that federal immigration agencies will be permitted to make arrests at schools, churches, and hospitals, ending a policy that has been in effect since 2011.The American public is generally in support of deporting undocumented immigrants, as 66 percent of people support while only 32 percent oppose. By the end of January, the Pentagon said they will send 1,500 active duty troops on the Southwestern border and there currently 40,000 immigrants are being held in detention centers around the U.S. Trump ordered an executive order to prepare a facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba that could hold up to 30,000 more migrants. The Trump administration said they would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to "dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.” The effect of these policies will depend on the state as republican controlled states are more likely to see enforcement actions because state governments are more likely to collaborate. However, according to Axios, on Sunday, Jan. 26, ICE announced it had conducted 956 arrests in one day in Chicago, Illinois, a state that typically votes democratically. Manda said, “Any undocumented kid in the U.S. should have the same protections, regardless of what state they live in.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 21, BUSD School Board Director Jen Corn posted on Instagram announcing that the Berkeley City Council passed a resolution to reaffirm the city-wide commitment to protect undocumented residents, reiterating that Berkeley is a refuge and sanctuary city. Corn continued her caption by saying an updated draft for the School Board resolution will come after the final vote, on Feb. 5, which would strengthen resolution-17-050 and encourage a partnership between BUSD and the City of Berkeley to protect undocumented students from ICE. This Resolution is titled “Reaffirming Board of Education’s Commitment to Making BUSD Campuses a Safe Zone for Students and Families Threatened by Immigration Enforcement and Committing to Alignment and Continual Collaboration with the City of Berkeley as a Reaffirmed City of Refuge and Sanctuary City and Accompanying Protocols.”
Vasudeo encouraged undocumented students to use their local resources, like the East Bay Community Law Center which provides free immigration resources and support for college students. Calvo Medina reminds students of their rights, “Undocumented people in this country do have the right to due process. So even if they (ICE) come and arrest us, we still have a chance at fighting that legal battle in the courts.”
Calvo Medina explained one of her biggest worries as Trump cracks down, “I'm concerned about the lack of information that's going on in the community in terms of ICE sightings.” She believes that Berkeley is fairly supportive of immigrants but encourages students, and residents, to continue supporting the undocumented community by recording and questioning ICE officers if they are spotted in the community. She proposed questions like, “(Write down) at what time they were there. Are they still there? What are you (ICE officer) doing here?” Calvo Medina recognized that not all citizens feel comfortable doing this, “A Black U.S. citizen (or) student might not have the same privilege to go and talk to an officer because something could happen to them. However, a white student or adult with citizenship can go and ask … they're coming for all of us but in very different ways.”
She finished by saying, “It's just important to remember that we have strength in numbers … you are not alone in dealing with that (fear of deportation/ICE).” Calvo Medina opens up her classroom, C-334, to students who want to talk with a trusted adult about this issue.