BUSD pushes back on Trump, strengthens policy to protect immigrant families

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) board approved a resolution Wednesday night reaffirming its commitment to making its campuses “safe zones” for immigrant students and families, and vowed continued collaboration with the city, which reaffirmed its sanctuary status last month.

The resolution provides additional guidance to school sites and details about the rights of migrant students and families in Berkeley Unified. The district will also work with community organizations to support families, inform them of available resources, and help them prepare things like legal caregiver affidavits and family emergency plans in case of deportation.

BUSD’s updated sanctuary campus resolution comes in the wake of promises by the Trump administration to conduct mass deportations and orders giving immigration enforcement agencies permission to make arrests in “sensitive areas” such as in or near schools and churches, where they were previously avoided.

“It’s re-traumatization of our community,” Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, a former BUSD board member and founder of Latinos Unidos, told Berkeleyside on Wednesday. Decades ago, her father was deported after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided his workplace. It was the same day Leyva-Cutler’s sister was born. “This is constant harassment and threats to our communities that we have to once again endure.”

The board members also agreed to write a letter in support of Senate Bill 48, introduced late last year by Democratic Sen. Lena Gonzalez of Long Beach. If passed, the bill would create a 1-mile radius “safe zone” around schools with the aim of keeping ICE agents off campuses. The bill was introduced to protect migrant families and keep children in schools. The bill could also have financial impacts, since school funding in California is tied to student attendance. 

“It’s important that we have as many barriers and protections that we can provide to our families and our communities,” Leyva-Cutler said. 

Coinciding with Trump’s inauguration and flurry of executive orders, school districts in Fresno and the Central Valley have reported drops in attendance and mental wellbeing due to fears of ICE raids. Educators across the state have been working to mitigate the potential impacts of immigration enforcement in communities to keep students in school and parents engaged. 

“Teachers, parents and students are experiencing a lot of anxiety,” Matt Meyer, the president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, told Berkeleyside. “The main thing is making sure that people know their rights, and making sure that all our school sites know what to do if — worst case scenario —  an ICE agent shows up on school property.”

The Berkeley school board previously reaffirmed a resolution in 2017 to make campuses safe zones and educate all children regardless of citizenship status. BUSD employeess, contractors and volunteers are not required to cooperate with immigration enforcement agents, answer officers’ questions or provide access to protected data, according to current policy. District staff are directed to deny all “immediate” requests made by immigration enforcement officers to access school grounds or student documents, and report such requests to the superintendent for a review with legal counsel. 

The new resolution maintains those policies while introducing more initiatives and guidance. The school district will now assist college-bound students with finding scholarships that do not require social security numbers, and the superintendent will ensure that all teachers and administrators are trained and have written guidance to help them respond to immigration enforcement on campus. 

Additionally, BUSD will now celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20 and International Migrant Day on Dec. 18 each year and develop resources for educators and families to learn about immigrant communities. The district also encourages class lessons and school-wide assemblies about immigration to eliminate biases. 

The City of Berkeley reaffirmed its own sanctuary resolution on Jan. 21, creating a task force consisting of council members and community organizations to assess threats to Berkeley’s immigrant communities. The resolution also urges the city attorney to provide legal support for undocumented immigrants.

On Tuesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta provided further guidance for K-12 educators and families. He encouraged schools to inform his office about any immigration enforcement occurring on campuses by emailing [email protected]. 

“Schools are meant to be a safe place for children to learn and grow. Unfortunately, the President’s recent orders have created fear and uncertainty in our immigrant communities,” Bonta said in a release. “We’re continuing to monitor this issue closely, and we will not hesitate to act if we believe this enforcement goes beyond federal authority under the law.” 

Undocumented students already have some protections in place. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits schools from sharing student information — including citizenship status — without a parent or legal guardian’s consent. Public educational institutions can’t deny free education to undocumented students under a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling based on the notion that children have little control over their immigration status, BUSD officials noted in the resolution.

“It’s a bit scarier this time, but we have gone through this before, reaffirming Berkeley’s values and protecting our students,” Meyer said. “We need to be a safe place for students. All students are entitled to public education regardless of their immigration status, and we want to make sure that our students come to school.”