A school is often seen as a safe space for students to learn, speak with peers, and engage in academic or extracurricular activities that excite them. That changed for some students when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a directive on January 20 that it would no longer consider schools a protected area. That means they are no longer off-limits to federal agents conducting immigration enforcement.
Michigan immigrant rights groups have been spreading information on what the new directive means for Michigan schools.
The order aimed to prevent criminals from hiding in a protected area to avoid arrest, according to a statement from a DHS spokesperson. It was issued the day President Donald Trump, who has promised mass deportations of people in the U.S. without legal status, took office.
Miriam Aukerman, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said at a press conference Wednesday that she believes the DHS directive under the Trump administration is preventing children from feeling safe at schools.
“Tragically, this administration is making school children and schools a target by ending a policy that has long limited immigration enforcement at schools,” Aukerman said. “We can't change the administration's decision to put kids in the crosshairs. … But what we can do and have done is make sure that schools know what the law is and how to do everything they can to keep children out of harm's way when they come to school.”
The ACLU of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center sent a letter on January 27 to superintendents around the state, informing them of the rights of students and suggesting ways to ensure schools act in accordance with state and federal laws.
The letter states that it is important that schools understand immigrant students’ rights, now that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, often called ICE, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection can now enforce immigration law at or near schools, school playgrounds, or bus stops.
The immigrant rights groups also wrote in the letter that the DHS policy does not affect the constitutional right of immigrant children to education, the legal responsibility of school districts toward students, or schools' legal rights regarding who enters their property.
Elinor Jordan, a managing attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, spoke at Wednesday’s press conference. She said the letter helps inform schools about ways to ensure that all children feel safe in the classroom.
“Our aim is to ensure that schools know the law and can do everything possible to support children and their families at this time,” Jordan said. “Not only do all Michigan children have the right to access our public education system, but they're required by law to attend.”
The ACLU of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center recommend that schools:
- Develop a plan if immigration enforcement were to show up at or near schools, school events, and bus stops;
- Comply with only valid judicial warrants and subpoenas – not just administrative warrants which are not signed by a judge and are issued by ICE;
- Protect student’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, and privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act;
- Designate which areas are public and non-public (or times when areas are open to the public, or not open to the public);
- Consult with an attorney to determine whether school's actions fulfill its legal responsibilities to its students;
- Observe and document actions taken by immigration agents, such as making copies of officer’s identification documents, warrants, or subpoenas;
- Identify a range of documents to adult students, parents, or guardians that can be used to establish a student’s age;
- Limit information collected from students, parents, and guardians if there is no need to collect it;
- And communicate to all district families that all students are welcome in a school that keeps students emotionally and physically safe.
Michigan Superintendent Michael Rice wrote in a statement that the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe ensures that children of people without legal status have a lawful right to attend public school.
“All children have the right to a free public education, irrespective of citizenship or immigration status, according to the Plyler v. Doe U.S. Supreme Court decision,” Rice wrote. “They also have the right to be free from discrimination. Educators inside and outside the department are concerned that the change in ICE enforcement and the effort to limit birthright citizenship could harm school attendance and student achievement for some of our children.”
The Michigan Department of Education sent two memos in January to superintendents and public school academy directors throughout the state. The first details children’s rights to equal access to a free public education regardless of immigration or citizenship status. The second memo reiterated that point while describing the consequences of the Trump administration allowing ICE to go into protected areas.
Rané Garcia, director of the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion, said at a press conference Wednesday that she has seen no reports of immigration enforcement agents at schools in the state.
“We just want to make sure that our schools are prepared," she said. "They have those processes in place so that children feel comfortable attending. When they attend, they can learn. So that's the goal here.”
Christopher Cadogan is the principal of Gier Elementary School in Hillsdale. He said at the same press conference that he hopes students do not feel afraid to show up to class, particularly because Michigan has been facing chronic absenteeism in schools.
“As a school administrator in the Lansing school district, I stand with our district in reaffirming that our schools are among the safest place for our children,” Cadogan said. “This reality is made possible through generous public investments in school security, mental health services, and our state and nation's commitment to providing our most marginalized students with access to free meals.”
