How La Unified tries to protect the families of immigrants

From Carolyn JonesCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

As the Trump administration has enhanced the application of immigration, school districts across the country have united in support of students and families without law. But maybe no more than Los Angeles Unified.

The second largest school area in the country – under the leadership of Chief Alberto Carvalho, he himself a former immigrant living in the country is illegally emerging as a national model of how school districts can help families covered with fear.

“I think La Unified is on the list of people who are looking at what schools are doing right now,” says Sofia Rodriguez, Assistant Professor at New York University who studied the topic. “We see individual teachers and schools withdraw, but this effort cannot fall on the back of heroic teachers. This must happen at the level area, such as La Unified.”

La Unified is catapulted in the foreground within days of Trump’s election in November. At his first school council meeting after the election, the board unanimously passed a resolution Promising to protect students from applying immigration to campuses. Since then, the area has introduced a number of other services: a 24-hour hotline for families seeking help; A “compassion fund” to help families facing economic emergencies; Free legal assistance through local non -profit organizations; Online and personal seminars aimed at the legal rights of immigrants; And the Virtual Academy of Students who are afraid to leave the house because of the risk of deportation.

Families can receive red cards outlining their legal rights if they are detained, as well as consultations on mental health and medical care in 19 wellness centers located in school campuses. The area also encourages families to create emergency plans if a parent is detained.

These moves are in addition to the efforts throughout the country to keep schools safe. Guide Democrats’ General Prosecutor Rob Bont reminded schools that immigration officers need a court order before entering the school campus. Governor Gavin Newo, also a Democrat, last week signed a bill that Prevents school staff from disclosing information for students or their families of immigration authorities without a court order. He also signed a bill Requirement of schools to notify families And the community when immigration officials are on the campus.

Chief

These steps are useful, the lawyers said, but the outspoken defense of Carvallo from immigrant families may be even more powerful. At a time when some civic leaders deviate from the contradictions, Carvalho has repeatedly spoken and made it clear that the protection of immigrant students is a priority.

“As a proud American optional – not by accident – and as previously undocumented immigrant, this is my insurmountable moral responsibility, as well as professional responsibility to protect all children,” Carvalho said in a recent staff for immigration. “On the sidewalks of America, we have no reserved for immigrants and others for everyone else. They all go on the same sidewalk of hope and opportunity … On the day we give up that we can take Lady Liberty’s hand, repay the flame and tell everyone:” I’m sorry that the democracy of America is closed. “

An immigrant from Portugal, Carvalho lived illegally in the country in the first few years in the United States in the 1980s. He had moved to the United States alone after graduating from high school hoping to escape poverty and find more opportunities for education and career, according to New York Times profileS As he lived on the east coast, he struggled with the dwellings and fear of deportation, but eventually received a student visa and continued to become a science teacher at Florida High School and obtain citizenship. He was the head of public schools in the Miami-Dad District before he took to Los Angeles, united in 2021.

Carvallo’s words are important, especially against the background of the current political climate, they said

Maira Lara, Director of Partnerships and Southern California’s commitment in non -profit research and intercession, Edtrust West. Lara was once a student living in the country illegally in Los Angeles, and later worked as an English teacher in high school in the field.

“I was impressed with what the area did, but the chief was particularly vowel,” Lara said. “Having a leader who has the courage to talk makes an incredible difference.”

Students living in the country are illegally feeling isolated, afraid to reveal their stories for fear of deportation, she said. Lara felt that the school, especially the English class, was a safe place where he could be herself.

“The school saved me. That’s why it is so important for schools to do their best to help families right now,” Lara said. “All school districts have to do what Lausd does.”

Effect on entries

Like all school districts in California, Los Angeles Unified does not ask students for their immigration status. But immigrants rights believe that about 1 in 5 students or 76,000 in the district come from mixed status families, which means that at least one parent has no legal status.

Enrollment this year has fallen partly due to immigration repression, Carvalho said. Some families have moved away and others keep their children at home from school. The visit has also fallen apart as the raids have increased. This prompted the area to send staff – including the chief – to visit 2000 students’ homes and call more than 14,000 families to assure them that their children are safe at school.

The area has created the so -called safe passages at school: volunteers who accompany children to and from a school for parents who are afraid to leave their homes.

However, the area can do more, said Maria Miranda, Vice President of United Teachers Los Angeles, the Union of Teachers. More information about families, so they know what is available to them and larger zones around campuses are observed Volunteers must be a priority, she said. The Union would also like to see a stronger warning system to notify parents of close immigration activities, as well as more school employees to help students who immigrated only to the United States.

“I think it’s great that the chief supports students and the area deserves a loan,” Miranda said, noting that the union has long insisted on these measures. “It is beautiful to see the community gather to protect our democracy. … It is not good for students to hide and therefore not have access to school.”

“My job is to teach children”

Rodriguez, who teaches at the NYU Steinhardt School, has studied in detail schools and immigration. She is not surprised that Los Angeles Unified was a leader in support of students after the implementation of immigration turned to Los Angeles. Public schools in Chicago, where Trump recently ordered immigration repression, also took additional measures to protect families.

But even the school districts in conservative areas have taken steps to protect students from immigrants, Rodriguez said. Their superiors may not be so honest and they can use different terminologies and strategies, but the services and commitment to the well -being of the students are there, she said.

Patricia Gandara, Professor of Education at UCLA, agrees.

“Our research shows that warders in the red countries may think,” I do not agree with Trump’s policies, but my job is to teach children, “Gandara said. “Overall, warders are much more concerned about their untouched students than you would imagine.”

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.