PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The executive order under President Donald Trump’s Administration allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in places such as churches and schools has been met with scrutiny. As such, The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania have issued a letter to all schools in the Commonwealth with guidelines on students’ rights.
As deportation efforts increase across the nation, the letter seeks to answer many questions and calm the fears of staff, students, and parents about what ICE can and cannot do in schools, says Pennsylvania Education Law Center’s senior attorney Kristina Moon.
“While the policy now allows ICE to try to engage schools, there are still important limitations on any law enforcement officers’ access to non-public spaces, including those in our school,” she said. “So our schools are not open for just anyone in the public to enter at random.”
The federal government’s revocation of the “sensitive locations” policy does not alter the constitutional right of immigrant children to an education, nor does it change the legal responsibilities of school districts towards their students. Moon says part of the guidance calls for whoever greets the officers to ask them to wait outside, obtain and make copies of whatever paperwork they may have, and immediately contact the school attorney.
If a student is removed by ICE, she says the student’s parent should be contacted, and supportive services should be available for the student and classmates.
The letter also explains that ICE typically uses administrative warrants, which do not legally mandate access to a location. However, judicial warrants do.