On January 20, the first day of Donald Trump’s second term as president, he rescinded protected area policies put in place by Joe Biden that prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from entering “sensitive” places, such as schools and hospitals.
The official statement about the policy from a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security states: “This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and rapists—who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
This policy has put many people, undocumented or otherwise, on edge about how schools will handle the change.
Officials from Delaware County have stated that it is not a sanctuary county and will comply with state and federal laws concerning how certain immigration issues should be handled. Even considering the state laws, many other counties, as well as public schools across the country, have put policies in place to protect undocumented students to the fullest extent possible.
According to Coordinator of Safety and Security Ms. Dana McBride, the safety and security team has instructed the school administration to follow a policy and procedure on how to handle immigration officers if they come to Haven. The policy includes verifying the officers, their credentials, and their paperwork.
“We work very closely with our local Police Chief [David] Splain of Nether Providence and Chief [Raymond] Stufflet of Swarthmore. They have both said that they will be here to support the school district if any of those ICE raids that you’ve seen in the media were to happen here,” McBride said.
Policies regarding what to do if an unfamiliar law enforcement officer were to come to school involve holding them in the vestibule between the outside and the office until front office staff have properly vetted them by taking any documents they may have, and calling an administrator if necessary.
Then, the administrator will take over and call the Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent, who will go through a legal review before letting anybody into the building.
In her role as Coordinator of Safety and Security, McBride works to coordinate with local law enforcement, review procedures, and provide training for staff regarding various instances involving people entering the schools in our district.
“[She] provides our liaison to the police,” Interim Superintendent Dr. Jim Scanlon said. “If we’re doing any investigations with law enforcement, she becomes our point of contact.”
Scanlon also shared specific details about student safety.
“We put something out [regarding immigration raids] in January when this all began, and we worked with our attorneys on that. So ICE shows up, for example, at a school, we’re not releasing them there,” Scanlon said. “If someone comes in and has a subpoena to take somebody, we can’t ignore the subpoena, but if they’re just coming to take somebody and it’s not done properly, we won’t release somebody.”
There are also other resources available for families who raids could impact. According to Scanlon, school district social workers work with families regularly.
“I think that work is more important than worrying about ICE raids coming in, at least for us here in Wallingford,” Scanlon said. “We want to make sure that we’re providing the social services help that people need, regardless of whatever their needs are, and we do a lot of work with that.”
The school board reacted to the news in January by beginning to form new policies, and they are continuing to work on sharing what they have.
“I would say to students and families, everybody that’s involved in a school, it’s a safe place,” Scanlon said.
