SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Union del Barrio, a migrant advocacy organization with offices throughout Southern California and New York City, says it has trained hundreds of teachers on how to intervene and interact with federal immigration agents who might be trying to detain a student or parent near a school.
On Tuesday morning, some members of Union del Barrio, some of whom are also teachers from across San Diego County, staged an educational campaign outside Lincoln High School, handing out flyers to parents as they dropped off their children.
“What this is really about is showing solidarity to the familias, to the students, to ensure they feel there’s a community behind them, that they are welcomed here and they should be coming to school in spite of with this threat of ICE coming to schools and drop-offs,” said Erendira Ramirez, educator and member of Union del Barrio.
Ramirez says many teachers, from several districts, will follow coordinated safety plans in the event of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations on or near their schools.
When asked if she would physically try to prevent federal agents from arresting a student, she said, “It would depend on the situation.”
Ramirez stated educators like her and community members have been participating in “teacher patrols,” driving around campuses before the start of the school day, something they’ve been doing since the first week of school.
One of those teachers, named Marisol, spent part of her morning driving around Lincoln High School, located about a 10-minute drive east of downtown San Diego.
“There are key factors to help identify ICE agents,” she said. “They tend to drive American-made SUVs.”
Marisol said they also look for vehicles with heavily-tinted windows.
“They are so tinted you can hardly see; You have to really come up close to better see in there,” she said. “They also travel with other units — they might not have California exempt license plates, they might have no license plates.”
The teachers are in communication with each other and are trained to alert the others should they spot ICE agents during one of their patrols.
Union del Barrio says it will continue to coordinate patrols and educational campaigns on a consistent basis at schools throughout San Diego County.
According to Ramirez, San Diego Unified and other school districts are not officially involved in their efforts.
Almost all school districts in California have drawn up policies denying federal agents entry to their schools for immigration enforcement while also prohibiting access to student records.
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