SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — There’s a push by some lawmakers to protect mixed-status students and their families on school campuses.
Senate Bill 48 hopes to steer immigration officials from school campuses, prohibit the release of information and create a safe zone surrounding school sites.
“This is a bill that basically is attempting to balance the importance of education against access to information, it seeks to go further than existing law by actually prohibiting ice from coming onto campus in the first place and then of course prohibiting information sharing,” Legal Analyst Wendy Patrick said.
The California Department of Education shared that the state, 93% of children who have one or more undocumented parents are U.S. Citizens.
The proposed bill prohibits school districts, County offices of Education or Charter Schools from allowing ICE to enter a school campus without a judicial warrant.
“One of the reasons that was articulated behind the promotion of this bill is that lawmakers want to do what they can to prevent schools from losing students and losing student attendance due to concerns and fears over immigration that not only would deprive students of an education but would also negatively impact that critical funding that many schools rely on,” Patrick said.
Meanwhile, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi introduced the ‘California Safe Haven Schools and Child Care Act.’ AB 49 aims to protect immigrant children from ICE in schools and childcare centers.
“Now remember that Senate Bill 48 is different than Assembly Bill 49 which was proposed at the beginning of December, that would basically seek to protect immigrant children from actions by ICE who enter school sites or childcare facilities,” Patrick said.
In a statement from Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi to CBS 8:
"All children have a constitutional right to attend public schools, regardless of immigration status. Unfortunately, the threat of federal immigration officials coming onto school grounds to detain undocumented students or family members casts a shadow of fear over all California students. Students cannot learn if they are living in fear of being deported or separated from their family members. This bill is necessary because children should not be afraid to come to school, and parents should not be afraid to send their children to school.”