The Detroit public schools board heard from school staff and community members this week urging the district to update its immigration sanctuary policy.
Speakers said they're concerned about an increased presence of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the community.
The current policy of the Detroit Public Schools Community District bars immigration enforcement officers from entering a school without first getting approval from the office of the superintendent and general counsel.
Some staff said they need training on how to handle encounters with immigration enforcement, and they said the policy doesn't go far enough because people could still be targeted in enforcement operations outside of schools.
Emily Barnes, an after-school worker in the district, was a speaker at the Tuesday school board meeting. She said Detroit students are facing the mental stress of seeing friends and family disappear from their lives.
“Immigrant students and children of immigrants face the horrific pain of being deported or seeing their family members deported,” said Barnes.
“Students across the city feel the weight of fear in our community created by the continuous threat of ICE’s presence,” she said.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said school community members should report any interaction with immigration officials to their principal or district supervisor. He said that Detroit is committed to protecting all students and families.
ICE has said it expects enforcement actions at schools to be very rare, and the immigration officers would enter schools only when necessary to protect public safety.
