() As students head back to the classroom in Los Angeles, campus police officers and volunteers will be patrolling local schools and setting up “safe zones” to help students avoid immigration officers on their way to class.
The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the nation, has partnered with the city and community groups to create what they call “safe passage zones.”
Although local police are not legally allowed to interfere with immigration enforcement, they plan to warn families if Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are spotted nearby. School police and volunteers are set to patrol more than 100 schools in the district, and bus routes are being diverted to avoid known enforcement hot spots. Some students and their families are turning to apps like Coqui, which sends a notification when ICE agents are nearby, according to Newsweek.
“We are activating emergency crisis teams that will visit families, in some cases actually walk with families to their homes, and then provide the needed assistance, information and resources they may require,” said Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the LA Unified School District.
The district also plans to allocate resources for crisis response teams, a legal fund for families whose loved ones are detained, and know-your-rights guides in multiple languages.
However, some critics argue the money used to run these safe zones should instead be spent on students whose families are in the U.S. legally.
The push for safe zones comes after a 15-year-old boy with disabilities was detained outside an LA high school earlier this month.
The Department of Homeland Security said on social media that accusations the school was targeted by Border Patrol were false. The department said agents were in the area to arrest a “Salvadoran national and suspected MS-13 pledge with prior criminal convictions.”
California Democrats have supported legislation banning immigration officers from entering campuses without a judicial warrant.
