“For the sake of the children we serve and represent, we are asking for restraint, humanity, and distance. Let schools remain places where children can simply be children.”
The San Diego Unified School Board Joint Statement in Response to abduction of parents near schools…
“Over the last two weeks, parents of our students have been detained by ICE in neighborhoods near our schools. Whatever the intent or circumstances of these operations, their proximity to schools, particularly during drop off and pick up times has a profound impact on entire school communities.
When immigration enforcement occurs near a school, the effects do not end with the individual being detained. Children see it. Families hear about it. Fear travels quickly through classrooms, playgrounds, and neighborhoods. Students arrive at school carrying questions and anxiety that no child, especially our youngest learners, should have to carry.
We are asking federal authorities, clearly and urgently: please stop conducting immigration enforcement near our schools and during school arrival and dismissal times.
Schools should not become the backdrop for enforcement activity and school routines should not become opportunities for it.
Our educators work every day to create places where children feel safe enough to learn, belong, and thrive. This destabilizes the sense of safety and places an additional burden on all of us. We are the ones consoling, moving cars, collecting belongings left behind by these covert operations.
For the sake of the children we serve and represent, we are asking for restraint, humanity, and distance.
Let schools remain places where children can simply be children.”