Blair responds to growing concerns about immigration enforcement

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20th and his numerous immigration-related executive orders, the prospect of mass detentions and deportations has been weighing on many across the country. Montgomery Blair High School, along with several other schools and counties, has taken action to address the growing concerns surrounding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) potential involvement in the community, with a staff meeting taking place in the auditorium on February 3rd.

The agenda

The meeting began with a quote by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent, Dr. Thomas Taylor, displayed on the auditorium screen: “Our schools are and will always remain safe places where every child—regardless of immigration status—is welcomed, valued, affirmed, validated, respected, and loved.”

Blair Principal Kevin Yates went on to outline the basic and long-existing protocol for what the school and staff should do if an ICE officer is requesting to enter the building. The first step is to meet with the officer at the main doors where all visitors are scanned for entry.

School personnel must ask for the officer’s name, ID, the phone number of their supervisor, and their reason for visiting. The officer should then be advised to wait outside of the building until the school is able to contact and receive guidance from the Office of the General Counsel. School security is to notify their supervisors of the event as well as the parents or guardians of any students in question. If an ICE officer fails to comply with instructions, staff must not attempt to physically interfere but should remain in contact with the legal counsel.

While taking the threat of immigration enforcement in and near schools seriously, Principal Yates assured that local ICE officials have affirmed that the agency is only interested in undocumented adult people with criminal records, excluding the vast majority of those attending Blair, especially as most students are minors.

Much of the meeting was devoted to providing guidance for staff on how to support students through uncertainty, with a chart comparing “student concerns” with possible appropriate responses. For example, if a student confessed that “[they] heard about the new rule, and [they were] really scared,” a potential response from a staff member would be to say “I hear you” and “let’s… find some ways to help you feel safe and supported.” The examples emphasized the importance of validating the feelings of vulnerable students, rather than minimizing any pain they might be experiencing, and refraining from giving them any false assurance.

Guest speaker Alex Vasquez from Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a national organization dedicated to advocating for immigrant and working-class Americans, then took the floor. Vasquez expressed that under the Trump administration, the organization had begun to focus more heavily on protecting and defending communities that could be impacted by the new policies.

Stressing that he could not provide any formal legal advice, he shared some of his knowledge regarding the subject of immigration enforcement, describing three different types of interactions one could have with ICE: sightings, targeted enforcement, and raids.

Sightings simply involve seeing an ICE officer or vehicle without experiencing any conflict with the agency. Targeted enforcement describes when officers are looking for a specific person but may partake in collateral arrests if information on the legal status of those not initially sought out is revealed to them. Raids describe large-scale efforts, sometimes in collaboration with local law enforcement, to arrest anyone deportable in a given area. However, while three counties in Maryland do allow ICE to collaborate with local law enforcement, Montgomery County does not, making it more difficult for these broad raids to occur.

Any encounters with ICE, particularly the latter two of those mentioned above, can be reported by calling CASA’s emergency number or raid tip hotline, accessible on the organization's website.

ICE Staff Meeting

Photo: ICE Staff Meeting

ICE Staff Meeting Photo courtesy of Anjali Harrison.

Behind the fear

So, why must we be on alert? This is the heading of one of the last slides of the meeting’s presentation, which detailed why it was called in the first place. For one, Maryland is a state with a population of around 260,000 undocumented immigrants, as shared in the meeting, and as many as 300,000 according to CASA. Thousands of others are here on temporary status.

Over the past few weeks, President Trump has rescinded a policy protecting certain sensitive areas from immigration enforcement and replaced it with a “common sense” approach, resulting in fewer restrictions for ICE and leading people to worry that officers would now be able to enter schools. His policy signals that every undocumented person is a priority for detention and deportation, leaving even those without criminal records at risk.

The president has committed to scrutinizing and ending temporary protection programs and detaining immigrants to the “fullest extent” possible. He promises to target those who have been here for two years or less for “expedited” removal. He seeks to punish so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, including stripping them of federal funding, as well as nonprofit organizations that serve immigrants. He additionally hopes to further mobilize other law enforcement agencies on the local and state levels in immigration enforcement.

Despite understandable fears, staff were encouraged to remember the legal rights of all civilians regarding ICE and law enforcement. If demanded to state one’s name or immigration status, one has the right to remain silent without legal consequences. If confronted with an immigration officer at one’s home, one has no legal obligation to allow them to enter unless they can prove possession of a signed warrant. One also has the right to speak with a lawyer before any more action is taken. It is important to remember that MCPS does not ask for or inquire about a student’s immigration status, meaning that schools do not have and are incapable of revealing that information.

Overall, the meeting made it clear that Blair is dedicated to ensuring the safety of all of its students and providing support to those impacted by the new administration’s policies. In other words, the school will do its best to remain a comfortable and secure place of learning for those with or without documentation in the coming years.