A Tense Mood
On Thursday morning, educators fanned out to Los Angeles public schools to do many of the things that are done every year on the first day of school to help families feel safe. They high-fived students and greeted parents dropping off their children. But this year, there was another task at hand: Looking out for federal immigration agents. As more than half a million students headed back to Los Angeles Unified School District campuses this week, the mood was tense against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s immigration raids. But district and local leaders sought to reassure students and their families with a vast mobilization of officials and community organizations. School district employees helped patrol the areas around schools in neighborhoods that have been the scene of raids in recent weeks. At Charles Maclay Middle School in Pacoima, a predominantly Latino neighborhood in the eastern San Fernando Valley, parents and students were greeted by about a dozen staff members and volunteers holding signs in English and Spanish with messages of support. “Este es un espacio seguro para inmigrantes,” one sign read. “This is a safe space for immigrants.” A school staff member handed out bright orange “Know Your Rights” fliers, while the beat of an Aztec drum provided a soundtrack. Volunteers in S.U.V.s and vans cruised the streets outside the school, watching for any signs of immigration officials. They were looking for unmarked vehicles with out-of-state plates, and drivers wearing vests and face masks. School district police officers in their own S.U.V.s did the same. The roving patrols are one of several steps officials in the nation’s second-largest school district have taken in response to the federal raids. Social workers, counselors and others have reached out to more than 10,000 families at risk of being targeted by immigration enforcement, including many whose children stopped coming to school late last school year, district officials said. They said district staff would distribute a “Family Preparedness” package, which would include information about immigrants’ rights as well as instructions on how to designate alternate caretakers if parents are detained. School administrators have been trained in what to do if federal agents show up on campus. Bus routes have been altered or added to ensure hundreds of children whose parents are afraid to be on the street can still get to school. In total, more than 1,000 school district staff members were dispatched to help with the effort. “It is virtually impossible considering the size of our community to ensure that we have one caring, compassionate individual in every street corner in every street,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at a news conference on Monday, where he was flanked by local mayors and labor leaders. “But we are deploying resources at a level never before seen in our district.” Mr. Carvalho, a Portuguese immigrant who was once undocumented himself, has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics. On Thursday morning, the superintendent waited for students and parents at the end of a red carpet lined with balloons in front of 24th Street Elementary School in South Los Angeles. Rampage, the mascot for the Los Angeles Rams, jumped and waved. Pop songs blasted over speakers. Parents said they were comforted by the welcome during a stressful time. “They’re targeting the Hispanic communities, so it’s scary,” said Margarita Contreras, who was dropping off one son in second grade before walking her eighth grader to the charter middle school next door. “But I want to bring him to school. I want him to be here. It’s important.”
Invite your friends.
|
