Town hall provides tools to keep immigrant communities safe

At an urgent virtual town hall meeting Jan. 30, AFT President Randi Weingarten gathered legal experts and immigration advocates to provide sorely needed information to members worried over immigration policy changes that are instilling fear and trauma in their schools and healthcare facilities since President Trump took office. While immigration threats are numerous, the meeting focused on the new access Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have to schools, hospitals and churches—places formerly considered “sensitive locations” and off-limits for ICE raids.

Panelists used strong language to urge webinar participants to resist unnecessary and invasive ICE officer visits, and provided specific information explaining when ICE may enter a school or hospital, and when they may be legally turned away. Most important, they emphasized, is to protect students, patients and community members from the trauma of ICE invasions—incidents that traumatize not just immigrant families but everyone in our schools, healthcare facilities and churches.

The AFT has launched a campaign to “Keep Kids Safe,” and is already working at the ground level—providing members and the people they serve with information and strategies to keep communities safe—as well as at the policy level, to repeal the Homeland Security mandate allowing ICE into sensitive locations. “We are trying to do everything in our power to get this order rescinding the special areas designation lifted,” said Weingarten, who wrote a letter to Trump about it. “I don’t mind begging,” she said. “I said please, you are actually creating trauma and cruelty for every family in America. … Let schools be safe and welcoming places.”

With nearly 3,000 people participating in the town hall, Weingarten noted there is a “real appetite for knowledge” and for being in community to talk about “how we protect our kids.”

AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang, who is also the chair of the AFT’s new Resistance Committee, started by acknowledging “the deep pain and fear” so many students and educators are feeling right now, adding that it extends far beyond those directly targeted. “That is the goal” among those pushing these anti-immigrant policies, she said. “To scare us all into silence. And we cannot be silent.”

“Now more than ever, our immigrant children need defenders. … As teachers, as educators and as human beings, we have a moral obligation, a sacred duty, to protect each other, but especially children,” said Gaby Pacheco, president and CEO of TheDream.US. “This is not the moment for our hearts to be timid.”

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director, CEO and co-founder of the activist group MomsRising, said mothers are ready to step up to the plate, saying her members are “absolutely devastated by the unfair treatment of immigrant families in our communities.” She said that every child and educator is affected when their students and classmates are so traumatized.

Real solutions

Nicholas Espíritu, deputy legal director at the National Immigration Law Center, outlined concrete steps to help keep those children, their families and their communities safe. At the top of the list is to distribute specific Know Your Rights information to families and to the people who may work with them.

Espíritu outlined four primary concepts to share, repeating what the AFT has made available in its Know Your Rights material (in English and in Spanish):

• You have the right to remain silent. This is also true of educators and healthcare providers; you do not have to disclose a student’s or patient’s immigration status, what country they are from or even whether they are in the building.
• You have the right to speak to a lawyer. Espíritu said even if officers try to intimidate you, you can say “I want to speak to my attorney.” You do not need to say anything further.
• Do not sign anything until you speak with a lawyer.
• Always carry your valid immigration documents, such as a green card or work permit, along with a Know Your Rights card (which can be found at the links above).

Espíritu also assured participants that ICE officers may not enter a school building or health facility without a signed judicial warrant. Reports of officers presenting administrative warrants make it essential to know the difference: A judicial warrant is signed by a judge. An administrative warrant may or may not be signed by an official from ICE or another federal agency—but if it is not a judge, it is not sufficient to allow entry.

AFT General Counsel Dan McNeil also explained that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, prohibits school personnel from sharing personal information about children and their families. “You can use it as a shield,” said McNeil, explaining that staff members can say, “I am not allowed to turn over personally identifiable information.” Similarly, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, prohibits healthcare workers from disclosing private health information without the patient’s consent.

McNeil advised participants that only the school superintendent or legal counsel are authorized to provide access to ICE officers, and that school staff should refer officers to the principal or a designated administrator and not interact with ICE. Access to schools may only be granted if there is a signed judicial warrant or in “exigent circumstances,” which address public safety.

Bringing in the union

The Chicago Teachers Union has incorporated much of this knowledge into its culture, preparing educators for the worst. CTU has hosted Know Your Rights trainings and bargained contract language to protect its families. “Our union—the people who are working with [immigrant families], the people who value human beings—put that first on the negotiating table,” said CTU President Stacy Davis Gates.

Davis Gates urged unionists to use “the power of negotiation” in their contracts to create a protective “forcefield” around their communities, and she noted the results: On Jan. 24, federal officers came to Hamline Elementary School and were turned away by school staff who understood their rights and the requirements for lawful entry into the school. “There was a sanctuary team there,” said Davis Gates, including the security guard, school clerk, administrators, counselors and teachers. And at dismissal time, community groups joined them to make sure families felt safe walking their children home. “These are the things we can do through our solidarity,” said Davis Gates.

The Boston Teachers Union has also paid particular attention to building protections for immigrants, said Tang, who is the former BTU president. Its Unafraid Educators committee gave out $460,000 in scholarships to 170 students who did not qualify for FAFSA grants or in-state tuition, and its Everyone Is Welcome Here campaign worked to ensure that every school was a welcoming space with resources, legal support through partners, and a sense of belonging.

Closing out the meeting, AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus noted that every division of the AFT is affected by the immigration crisis, and she assured participants that the union is working on creating more resources to address it. “We will not let our hospitals, our places of worship and our schools become filled with fear,” she said. “Of all places in our communities, they must be safe spaces.”

“We are in this together, juntos, and we will take care of each other.”

For additional resources to support immigrant communities, visit the AFT’s immigration hub.

[Virginia Myers]