Regardless of modifications in federal immigration coverage, CCSD Superintendent Dr. Robbie Hooker has pledged that faculties in Athens will stay protected and welcoming for all college students, no matter documentation standing.
So long as he can do something about it, not less than.
On his second day in workplace, President Donald Trump eliminated the protections that faculties and church buildings as soon as had towards raids by federal immigration police. Even so, this doesn’t imply that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers have free rein on college grounds.
Within the days after Trump’s inauguration, CCSD Superintendent Dr. Robbie Hooker despatched a letter to highschool households in Athens, explaining the state of affairs and pledging to take care of his deal with the welfare of the scholar physique. Final week, he elaborated on his plan to guard college students at a gathering of the ACC Board of Schooling.
CCSD’s new coverage concerning ICE
Hooker instructed the Board of Schooling that CCSD workers have developed step-by-step directions for what college staff ought to do if ICE exhibits up on college grounds and requests entry.
The brand new coverage states that receptionists ought to attempt to delay immigration brokers on the college entrance whereas they contact the principal. This can be simpler stated than accomplished. If ICE brokers illegally drive their approach in, there isn’t a lot the college can do about it besides to file the incident and take authorized motion after the very fact.
Assuming ICE brokers don’t use unlawful drive, the principal will ask for the agent’s title and identification on the college’s entrance. The principal would then attempt to discover out the explanation for the go to.
If the ICE agent has a warrant for a scholar’s arrest that’s signed by a decide, they’d be allowed inside to take the scholar into custody as is legally required.
Nevertheless, it appears unlikely that an ICE agent would have such a warrant. Usually, ICE brokers are solely capable of acquire administrative warrants when looking for to take an undocumented immigrant into their custody. Such warrants usually are not signed by a decide and thus usually are not legally binding on the college. An administrative “warrant” solely implies that an agent has authorization from their higher-ups inside ICE, not from a decide.
Subsequently, if an ICE agent presents a warrant to the principal, they may nonetheless not be allowed entry at first. That’s as a result of it might be unclear if the warrant is the legally-binding kind or not, so it will first be despatched for evaluate by the college’s authorized counsel whereas the agent waits outdoors.
Whereas not explicitly acknowledged, the existence of a coverage like this, mixed with Hooker’s pledge that ACC faculties will stay protected and welcoming locations for all college students, signifies that ICE brokers wouldn’t be allowed on college grounds with no legally-binding judicial warrant.
In any case, the mother and father of the affected scholar could be contacted instantly after consulting with authorized counsel. To make sure this occurs in a well timed method, the college district encourages all mother and father to maintain their contact data updated on CCSD’s guardian portal.
Board of Schooling dialogue
Board members have been strongly supportive of Hooker’s new coverage and thanked him for his management on this challenge.
“It places my coronary heart comfortable. It places my thoughts comfortable,” stated ACC Board of Schooling member Linda Davis.
ACC Board of Schooling member Tim Denson, who was additionally strongly supportive of the brand new coverage, requested for it to be mentioned on the subsequent college board retreat. Denson expressed a need to make sure that the coverage would stay in impact previous Hooker’s tenure and into the administration of the subsequent superintendent, whoever which may be.
Going additional, ACC Board of Schooling member Dr. Mumbi Anderson introduced up the chance that the board may challenge a proper assertion of assist for immigrant college students and their households.
Given latest reviews that some immigrant college students haven’t been attending college these days out of concern of the immigration police, ACC Board of Schooling member Dr. LaKeisha Gantt requested Hooker if he had any information on college attendance over the previous month. Hooker replied that he could be offering board members with this data quickly.
Hooker instructed board members that the college district doesn’t hold or share information on the immigration standing of scholars. He additionally reassured them that nobody from ICE or the US Division of Homeland Safety has but entered any college within the Clarke County College District.
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