Border Patrol is responding to allegations they will be boarding school buses to check student immigration status. They say they will not.
The Alice School district in South Texas sent out a letter to parents warning that Border Patrol could be boarding school buses during trips for band, sports and other extracurricular activities to check students' immigration status. The letter, signed by superintendent Anysia Trevino, states that buses could be inspected at checkpoints approaching the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday night.
The letter was later deleted.
The Texas Tribune says the letter went on to say those students could be detained if they did not have proof of citizenship when the buses stopped at highway checkpoints going into or out of the valley region.
Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks told Fox News that they would not be boarding school buses and calling the allegations absurd.
Banks said, "It's absurd," saying his "abuela" is a naturalized Mexican citizen.
"We're not targeting US citizens, we're not targeting people that are in this country illegally, right? We don't have the authority to go after someone who's in this country illegally. We're targeting criminals and those that have broken the law and entered the country illegally."
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