By Alfonso Sierra / El Popular
As the end of summer break came to an end for students across the country and in our own Kern County, several communities are bracing for another round of immigration raids.
After a summer that brought tension and fear to immigrant communities in Southern California, some parents may be worried about sending their children to school, fearing that ICE agents will target local schools. Many teachers worry that students from mixed-status families will miss school when a notice of an impending ICE raid is shared on social media.
El Popular is participating in a statewide initiative along with other media outlets in partnership with American Community Media. Aquí Estamos/Here We Stand is a collaborative reporting project by American Community Media and community media outlets from across California that explores the impacts of the Trump Administration's anti-immigrant crackdown on rural and urban communities across the state and the ways in which these same communities are organizing in response.
America's Voice featured several experts to discuss how the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda is harming our children and causing devastation to children's mental health during a virtual press event last Thursday. According to Dr. Allison Ratto, PhD, stress and eventually PTSD is one of the results that these ICE activities have affected learning and overall learning, putting children at risk for these and other mental health issues.
"What is particularly concerning to me as a child psychologist is that the stress, anxiety, and trauma that develop in this climate of fear and uncertainty around immigration enforcement can become chronic, leading to immediate and long-term damage to children's mental and physical health." Ratto said.
A local teacher, Roobie Richards, who also heads the FFA Program at Mira Monte High School, shared her thoughts on the impact immigration actions have had on students. 91.1 percent of the 2,048 students enrolled at Mira Monte High School are Hispanic.
"In my opinion, it has been devastating for our youth and even the implications of this in the future are yet to be determined and felt. As educators, we know that our students cannot learn when even their basic needs are not being met, let alone something as traumatic as not knowing if there is a raid where their friends or family are or even at school and if they will be home when they return from school. Students have missed school, have been reasonably distracted at school, and have felt more stressed during this time. For them it is real. I try to establish a safe place, as well as provide reassurance and share about the resources available to our students from the know your rights workshops that I have attended. The ACLU and the Rapid Response Network have been instrumental and commendable in their efforts to keep our communities safe, educated, and even in their legal battle to fight the inhumane and unlawful use of these raids against our friends and families." Ms. Richards concluded.
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho spoke of being an immigrant, describing himself as an "immigrant by choice, not by chance," spoke of his personal experiences as a teen student striving to adapt and assimilate, highlighting the many challenges students face on a daily basis without being compounded by ICE raids and the fear they bring to communities.
Carvalho shared a case in which Homeland Security agents tried to enter one of the elementary schools in his district and were successfully detained by school staff. "What national security threat does a first or second grade student pose to the Homeland"? Carvalho asked.
According to Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America's Voice, more than 5 million children who have an undocumented parent at home. Several experts have underscored the climate of fear and uncertainty about exposure to ICE activities where the images are vivid and graphic, violent encounters with masked immigration agents leave a lasting impact, and the anxiety that children carry with them and are especially shocking among children from mixed-status families.
These conditions are causing some parents to keep their children at home, depriving them of the ability and experience of learning in class among their peers and friends.
While remote learning was widely available during the pandemic and some schools continued with a hybrid model, the Kern High School District (KHSD) offers a blended learning program, Kern Learn. This model combines online learning within in-person instruction. KHSD also provides independent study and home instruction. No data were provided on the number of students currently enrolled in these programs. The total enrollment for KHSD is 43,116 based on the latest publicly available enrollment numbers.
"On his first day in office, the president deliberately dismantled protections that kept immigration officials away from schools, churches, and hospitals. Let's be honest about what's going on here. The government isn't just enforcing immigration law. The president is waging psychological warfare against all immigrants in the United States, people who he says "poison the blood of our country." The president is trying to remove immigrants from public spaces and is using children to do so," said Dr. Jasmeet Bains, California State Assemblywoman in the 35th district and current candidate for the 22nd congressional district.
Bains went on to say that the only reason to allow ICE to operate near schools is to instill fear and send the message that no place is safe. Since the immigration raids began, some Central Valley schools have reported absenteeism rates 20 percent higher than normal. "We're seeing the highest amount of absenteeism among younger students, probably because they're the most vulnerable and they're too young to walk to school alone," Bains added.
ICE raids accelerated in Southern California just before graduation and this was seen as the beginning of how these immigration enforcement activities will affect local students and how schools will adapt to this new reality under this administration.
Although ICE agents are not allowed inside school campuses in Kern County and no activity has been reported, several school districts have policies in place to protect students while also not allowing them to interfere with immigration enforcement.
However, when parents worry that dropping their children off at school could result in deportation, they don't go. When attendance decreases, funding disappears, and when there is no funding, all students suffer, regardless of immigration status.
School Policies and Processes to Stop ICE
What took place a month ago at Arleta High School in Los Angeles, has raised great fear among Hispanic communities, especially among parents, who because of these raids, a large number of these parents have chosen not to let their children go to school to avoid problems with immigration agents.
El Popular has spoken with officials from two school districts about this issue, as they lose funds when students are not present at school. There was no response from the Kern Secondary School District (KHSD) Superintendent's office on this issue. Here's what the Bakersfield School District (BCSD) told us:
"At the Bakersfield City School District, our focus, now and always, is to support our students by providing them with the essential services they need to learn, grow, and thrive. This unwavering commitment continues to guide every step of our planning and decision-making. At this time, we are still waiting for more guidance from the state. Generally, federal funds flow through states before being distributed to individual school districts. As such, any changes resulting from the federal decision would ultimately be determined at the state level." Said Tabatha Mills, BCSD's director of communications.
Robert Meszaros, director of communications for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office (KCSOS), said in an email that KCSOS does not manage any of Kern County's 46 school districts, but that he would be surprised that the districts did not have any policy or resolution on this issue.
"Generally speaking, schools have policies and practices in place that do the following, among other things, and staff members know what to do in the event of an ICE raid," Meszaros said.
In California, school districts impose the following points:
Immigration officers will not be allowed to enter school premises unless they present a warrant or demonstrate exigent circumstances.
Schools may not provide personal information about their students or family members about immigration matters without having a court or subpoena.
School personnel will not collect or maintain information about the immigration status of their students and family members, and will carry the right to refuse cooperation with immigration agents to the fullest extent permitted by law.
"While our office is not aware of any significant loss of ADA in Kern schools directly linked to ICE activity to date, we recognize that fear may be preventing some families from sending their children to school in some areas of the county," Meszaros told El Popular.
It is also important to indicate a couple of applicable laws:
California Education Code [EC] 220,234 et seq: Where it is stated that every student in California has the right to attend public school free from discrimination, harassment, violence, intimidation, and bullying.
Plyler v Doe, 457 U.S. 202 [1982]: Indicates that every child in the United States, regardless of immigration status or type of citizenship, has the right to an appropriate and free public education.
Bill Will Help School Districts During Times of ICE Raids
Since immigration raids are the main cause of parents taking their children out of schools, thus causing schools to lose money presented by the ADA, which is a school funding system, which helps fund school districts and part of its formula is based on average daily attendance.
Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano) Helps Reform AB1348
AB 1348, which establishes eligibility for funding for school districts, superintendent's offices of schools, and charter schools, makes it proportionately based on daily in-person care, as anticipated, if daily in-person care is being materially diminished during a fiscal year due to any specific type of emergency. The existing law requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to estimate daily in-person care so that it credits the school district for the total payable for the total in-person care that should have been credited if this emergency did not exist.
So state legislators are reviewing and considering new legislation, such as AB 1348, which talks about continuing funding to schools, districts and others due to losses made by immigration raids if in-person care is reduced due to these raids.
The new section to California Education Code Section 46392, (h)(1) states the following:
If the average daily attendance of a school district, county office of education, or charter school during a fiscal year has been substantially reduced during a fiscal year due to immigration enforcement activity, the Superintendent shall estimate the average daily attendance of the school district, county office of education, or charter school for the fiscal year in a manner that accredits the school district, the county office of education or charter school to determine the allocations to be made to the school district, county office of education, or charter school from the State School Fund approximately the total average daily attendance that would have been credited to the school district, county office of education, or charter school had immigration enforcement activity not occurred.
This section will become inoperable by July 1, 2029, and while it is in effect will require the superintendent of instruction, if the average in-person attendance of any school district, charter school, or superintendent of schools' office has declined due to the actions of immigration agents, to estimate the average in-person attendance in the same manner as if it were an emergency, clearly if certain conditions are shown, including but not limited to, the submission of a form certifying compliance with the requirements with the independent study skill
Referring to AB 1348, Dr. Bains indicated that the law prevents the President of the United States from defunding schools. This bill protects school funding when immigration raids result in mass absences. It also ensures that students have the option to obtain an education through independent study at home when immigration raids prevent them from attending classes.
Immigration raids in and around Bakersfield, particularly those targeting farmworkers in the Central Valley, have significantly impacted schools by causing an increase in school absences. These raids are often associated with increased fear and anxiety among Hispanic families, and have led to their children being kept out of schools, impacting attendance rates and potentially affecting the funds received by schools.
One mother, who did not want to give her full name, said the raids that occurred in January of this year in Kern County were very traumatic for her two sons, students at Highland High School. "They went to the peaceful protests along with several students who took place in the center of the city, they are born here, but we are undocumented, they asked us not to go to work for a few weeks later, instead of them saying we don't go to school, they warned us not to go out to the agricultural fields where we do our work." Mrs. Lupe commented with great emotion.
Statistics sadly indicate that the number of students who will be affected by not attending class for fear of the consequences of a possible raid or arrest of their parents is increasing.
Visit https://americancommunitymedia.org/here-we-stand/ for more notes relevant to the Aquí Estamos /Here We Stand initiative.