Los Angeles school year begins amid fears over immigration enforcement

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles students and teachers returned to class for the new academic year on Thursday amid worries that schools could become targets in the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown after a summer filled with raids.

At 93rd Street Elementary School in southern Los Angeles, volunteers with activist group Union del Barrio patrolled the neighborhood in the early morning for any immigration activity, and staff wearing bright orange vests gave children — some walking alone — a warm welcome as they arrived.

“We want to make sure that … everyone feels like they’re protected and we’re watching and every student can make it inside our school building,” said Ingrid Villeda, a teacher and community coordinator.

As children played in the schoolyard, there were no reports of federal agents in the area.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has urged immigration authorities not to conduct enforcement activity within a two-block radius of schools, starting an hour before the school day begins and until one hour after classes let out.

“Hungry children, children in fear, cannot learn well,” Carvalho said in a news conference on Monday.

He announced several measures intended to protect students and families, including altering bus routes to accommodate more students. The district will also distribute family preparedness packets that include know-your-rights information, emergency contact updates and tips on designating a backup caregiver in case a parent is detained.

The sprawling district, which covers more than two dozen cities, is the nation’s second largest, with more than 500,000 students. Some 30,000 students are immigrants, and an estimated quarter of them are without legal status, according to the teachers’ union.

Federal immigration enforcement near schools causes concern

Under U.S. law, children have the right to an education regardless of immigration status. Districts across the country have grappled with what to do if federal agents came to school campuses, with some, including LA and Oakland, declaring themselves “sanctuary” districts.

While immigration agents have not detained anyone inside a school, a 15-year-old boy was pulled from a car and handcuffed outside Arleta High School in northern Los Angeles on Monday, Carvalho said.

He had significant disabilities and was released after a bystander intervened in the case of “mistaken identity,” the superintendent said.

“This is the exact type of incident that traumatizes our communities; it cannot repeat itself,” he added.

Administrators at two elementary schools previously denied entry to Department of Homeland Security officials in April, and immigration agents have been seen in vehicles outside schools.

DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Carvalho said that while staffers and district police officers can’t interfere with immigration enforcement and don’t have jurisdiction beyond school property, federal agents parked in front of schools have left in the past after conversations with staff.

The district is partnering with law enforcement in some cities and forming a “rapid response” network to disseminate information about the presence of federal agents, he said.

Educators worry about attendance

Teachers say they are concerned some students might not show up the first day.

Lupe Carrasco Cardona, a high school social studies and English teacher at the Roybal Learning Center, said attendance dipped in January when President Donald Trump took office.

And when raids ramped up in June, graduation ceremonies took a hit. One raid at a Home Depot near MacArthur Park, an area with many immigrant families from Central America, took place the same morning as an 8th grade graduation at a nearby middle school.

“People were crying. For the actual graduation ceremony, there were hardly any parents there,” Cardona said.

Raids in California’s Central Valley in January and February coincided with a 22% spike in student absences compared with the previous two school years, according to a recent study from Stanford University economist Thomas Dee and Big Local News.

One 11th grader, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be published because she is in the country without legal permission and fears being targeted, said she is afraid to return to school.

“Instead of feeling excited, really what I’m feeling is concern,” said Madelyn, a 17-year-old from Central America. “I am very, very scared, and there is a lot of pressure.”

She said she takes public transportation to school but fears being targeted on the bus by immigration agents because of her skin color.

“We are simply young people with dreams who want to study, move forward and contribute to this country as well,” she said.

Madelyn joined a club that provides support and community for immigrant students and said she intends to persevere in that work.

“I plan to continue supporting other students who need it very much, even if I feel scared,” she said.

Some families who decided the in-person risk is too great opted for online learning, said Carvalho, with virtual enrollment up 7% this year.

The district contacted at least 10,000 parents and visited more than 800 families over the summer to provide information about resources such as transportation and legal and financial support, and is deploying 1,000 workers from its central office on the first day of classes to “critical areas” that have seen immigration raids.

“We want no one to stay home as a result of fears,” Carvalho said.

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Associated Press reporters Dorany Pineda in Los Angeles and Sharon Lurye in Philadelphia contributed.