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- The first day of school in L.A. brings with it fears of immigration enforcement — and training to respond to it.
- Schools thought to be at risk will have patrols to help ensure safe passage for students.
The first day of school in Los Angeles unfolded as no other — with safety zones set up around campuses to protect students and their immigrant families from agents of the federal government.
Despite ongoing concerns, educators made sure back-to-school welcomes were especially festive as yearly rituals unfolded across the nation’s second-largest school district: Balloons at the schoolhouse entrance, crying 5-year-olds with nearly crying parents and teenagers who appear too cool for school but were thrilled to see friends and eager to meet their teachers.
At 24th Street Elementary, southwest of downtown, children entered to cheers from staff gathered out front.
The warm welcome and the volunteer patrols tamped down the anxiety of Paola and Andrea, each of whom dropped off a third-grader. They were happy to be able to take their children to their first day, despite the fear they felt as immigrants without legal status to remain in the country.
Neither family had spent much time outside their homes since June, when immigration enforcement surged, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sweeping into public places to detain workers and others in the vicinity.
But the two 24th Street moms are persuaded that the L.A. Unified School District is taking extensive precautions to minimize risk.
“They told me that the children, while they’re here inside, are safe,” said Paola, who asked that she not be fully identified because of safety concerns.
Heightened fears
Fears were heightened Monday when federal agents reportedly drew their guns on and handcuffed a 15-year-old boy with disabilities outside Arleta High School in a case of mistaken identity. Federal officials said they were looking to apprehend a suspected MS-13 gang member and instead nabbed the person’s cousin. Federal authorities said they apprehended the actual suspect later in the day.
They’ve also said no place is off limits — including schools — as they press to reach President Trump’s goal of 1 million deportations per year.
LAUSD Supt. Carvalho expands aggressive defense of students and their immigrant families — including new collaborations with L.A. Mayor Bass and other area cities.
Campus patrols
At Maya Angelou Community High School in South Park, as students filed in lugging full backpacks, volunteers circled the perimeter of campus in their own cars, affixed with red and black stickers that read: “Protecting Communities From Ice and Police Terror.”
History teacher Ron Gochez wore a red shirt with the words “All Power to the Teachers,” and surveilled the sidewalk and streets.
He would soon need to teach — but his attention before and after school would be on making sure students were secure, Gochez said.
“People are already patrolling in their cars. Teachers are gonna be showing up and patrolling on foot around the school,” Gochez said. “For us at the high school, it means being vigilant. … If we were to see anything, we’d contact not just our school, but other schools in our immediate neighborhood.”
Other educators at Maya Angelou also have signed on.
“I’ll do it for the students,” said history teacher Ricardo López. “We gotta find a way to resist, to actually make change.”
Fifteen other faculty members posted themselves in front of the school holding signs signaling support and encouragement: “Everyone Is Welcome Here” and “This Is a Safe Space for Immigrants.”
Students entered via a red carpet.
The atmosphere was working for Bonnie and Haley, two juniors.
“I feel pretty safe,” Bonnie said. “We’re not super worried.”
Students joined up with friends to make up for missed time during the summer. Wearing carefully selected first-day outfits, they hugged in reunion and coordinated meetups after school while the safety patrol kept watch.
Tiers of school protection
Thursday’s first day of school featured three tiers of protection.
School district-organized efforts established a watch zone around at least 100 schools thought to be at highest risk because of their large Latino populations. These include schools where older Latino students walk to school without their parents, said L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho.
The teachers union has organized a second tier of faculty observers — ideally at least five to seven per school — to watch for immigration enforcement activity and alert a network of participants if they see it. The teachers are to observe and report only, Gochez said.
The third tier involves groups such as Unión del Barrio that are prepared to gather community members at a scene and provide hands-on support, or, if necessary, obstruct the efforts of immigration agents, even if they risk arrest by doing so, said Gochez, who also is a Unión del Barrio leader.
Volunteers patrolled outside schools of all grade levels.
At 93rd Street Elementary School in Green Meadows, Ingrid Villeda, the community school coordinator, and colleague Olga Calacuayo, the school’s Title I coordinator, began patrolling blocks around the school’s perimeter at 6:45 a.m. They noticed two empty cars that looked suspicious to them and reported them to Unión del Barrio’s tip line.
Villeda said she plans to do the same route each morning before school.
About 7:35 a.m., school administrators — clad in bright orange vests and carrying matching orange “know-your-rights” fliers — greeted volunteers standing outside the school gates.
The volunteers then busied themselves escorting students and their parents to campus within about a three-block radius.
Among them was Diana Holbert, a former children’s pastor.
As Holbert made dozens of trips across South San Pedro Street, she said she could sense the fear in the body language of parents and children, who kept their pace fast and eyes forward.
Holbert said she felt strongly that these children need to be protected — even if that meant putting herself at risk of arrest: “I’m 78 years old. If it happens, it happens.”
Children bounced toward the school entrance with excitement. Skylar, a second-grader who sported a glittery pink backpack and a magenta tee, said she couldn’t wait to see classmates.
“I like learning,” she grinned widely.
Educators are worried
Educators throughout the Los Angeles region are expressing worries.
“Imagine ... leaving your home in the morning and not knowing if your parents or your tío or tía is going to be there when you get back, or your grandparents,” said Pomona Unified School District Supt. Darren Knowles. “I remember walking to school as a kid, and I worried about ... the bully. I worried about the dog in the neighbor’s yard.”
Pomona’s schools opened Tuesday, and the attendance rate was a little lower than last year’s first day, Knowles said at a Wednesday event held with other local leaders to call attention to the importance of good attendance.
Amid immigration enforcement, city and school officials will set up “safe zones” monitored by LAPD and community volunteers to protect undocumented families when school resumes at LAUSD.
While schools continue to be relative havens, educators have been forced to devise protocols about what to do when immigration agents are near a school or attempting to enter campus.
“This is something unprecedented,” said Debra Duardo, superintendent of the L.A. County Office of Education, at the Pomona event. “The fear is real, and it is having a direct impact on student attendance and student enrollment.”
“It’s very difficult to teach children when they’re afraid,” Duardo said.
It remains to be seen if some families will opt out of in-person school. Online enrollment rose in the spring semester for L.A. Unified after Trump reentered office. Early this week, it was running about 7% higher than last year, despite overall lower enrollment, officials said.
Mistaken identity outside Arleta High
In the Monday incident outside Arleta High, family members persuaded officers that the boy was not the person they were looking for and the officers released him. A Department of Homeland Security statement Wednesday praised the family for cooperating.
“The mother of the 15-year-old, who is cousins with the alleged MS-13 gang member, was on the scene and worked with Border Patrol,” the statement said. “The mother informed Border Patrol that they are often confused for each other. She helped give Border Patrol the information to help apprehend him later in the day.”
“Once again, our agents keeping streets and the American tax-payer safe from criminals and we will keep doing so until the mission is accomplished,” said U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino in a social media post.
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