Metro-east schools won’t be ‘battleground for immigration policy,’ superintendents say
As part of the President Donald Trump crackdown on immigration, arrests can now take place at sensitive locations like schools, forcing local education officials to consider what they and their staffs would do if federal agents arrive.
The new administration immediately revoked previous policy on off-limits locations for immigration enforcement actions and has reportedly given U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents daily quotas, directing them to arrest around 1,500 people per day.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Immigration arrests and related actions had been prohibited at those locations, as well as playgrounds, child care centers and school bus stops since 2011.
The two dozen schools in Collinsville Unit 10, Belleville High School District 201 and Belleville Elementary School District 118 plan to follow Illinois State Board of Education guidance suggesting they consult with district legal counsel about how to comply with any ICE actions that officers might try to carry out on school grounds, according to district officials.
Officials from other large districts didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, including Granite City School District 9 and O’Fallon High School District 203. East St. Louis School District 189 officials declined to comment.
Collinsville Unit 10 Superintendent Brad Skertich, Belleville High School District 201 Superintendent Brian Mentzer and Belleville District 118 Superintendent Ryan Boike each described the same procedures their staff would follow in their schools.
School staff would ask to see identification, which is a typical first step for any visitor under modern school security measures. Usually it happens before a visitor can enter the school building, from the front entrance or lobby.
For federal agents, staff would also ask to see any official paperwork ICE agents had to support their enforcement actions at the school. That could include a judicial or administrative warrant or a subpoena, which each require different levels of compliance from a school district, the state board guidance points out.
Judicial warrants signed by state or federal judges when someone is accused of a crime, for example, allow for arrests, seizures and searches at schools.
Administrators at the central district office would contact district legal counsel to explain what the school is required to do based on the specific document the agents present.
“We’re preparing our staff in case one of these out-of-the-ordinary situations happens, but we think it’s highly unlikely,” said Skertich, of Collinsville Unit 10, which has the largest population of Hispanic students and families in the region.
“We’re here to educate kids, help them socially, emotionally and make sure they’re well-nourished,” he added. “That’s going to continue to be our focus.”
Mascoutah School District 19 Superintendent Dave Deets said a couple of parents have asked the district in recent days about whether immigration authorities would be allowed to enter school property. He assured the parents that “our schools are not going to be battlegrounds for immigration policy.”
Like other districts, Mascoutah School District 19 would ask authorities to present a “court order” before they would be allowed to take a student into custody, according to Deets, who described this as a longstanding policy.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration attorney and retired Cornell Law professor who specialized in immigration law, told McClatchy News he thinks ICE agents are unlikely to go to schools because obtaining a judicial warrant takes time and the agency could face public blowback from arresting someone at a school.
Boike, of the elementary school district Belleville 118, said he hopes arrests don’t happen at schools.
“I would hate for any child or student to ever have to go through anything like that ever,” Boike said.
In the wake of Trump administration policy changes, the Illinois State Board of Education has also suggested that educators familiarize themselves with other relevant state and federal policies related to immigration enforcement.
School officials are not allowed to ask about a student’s or parent’s citizenship status, the state board noted in its guidance.
And local police in Illinois, who might have a presence on a school’s property through a school resource officer position or patrol, are generally prohibited from participating in immigration enforcement by a state law known as the TRUST Act. It was signed by Republican former Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017 during Trump’s first term.
The Granite City Police Department released a public statement Tuesday to say that it isn’t involved in or aware of any federal immigration enforcement activities in the city or surrounding communities, citing the state law.
St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson said in an interview that federal immigration authorities don’t ask local law enforcement to assist in sweeps because they know Illinois law bans it.
Republican lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled state legislature have introduced bills to reverse this policy and require local police to work with ICE to deport people. Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, is among the sponsors of the bills, which were filed on Tuesday. Her district includes Monroe and Randolph counties and a portion of southern St. Clair County.
