L.A. Unified student detained by immigration agents as district prepares increased safety measures

Immigration agents handcuffed and drew guns on a 15-year-old San Fernando High School student Monday morning after pulling him from his family’s vehicle, according to Los Angeles Unified School District officials. It occurred right outside of Arleta High School in Los Angeles County’s San Fernando Valley, where a relative was enrolling ahead of the new school year.

“Such actions — violently detaining a child just outside a public school — are absolutely reprehensible and should have no place in our country,” Los Angeles Unified board member Kelly Gonez said in a statement.

The teen was detained hours before Los Angeles Unified leaders, local elected officials, and union leaders held a prescheduled press conference to discuss measures to keep students, families and staff safe from immigration raids ahead of the new school year, which begins Thursday.

“I sincerely and unfortunately interpreted it as a threat,” said L.A. Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho about the 15-year-old’s detention. Agents reportedly removed the handcuffs once the teenager’s grandmother confirmed he was not the person they presumably intended to detain.

Indiscriminate raids have continued despite a court order that bans immigration agents from profiling people based on race, language, job or location to make arrests. While the exact number is unknown, several L.A. Unified students have been detained or deported in recent months.

While the district has not seen a decrease in student attendance related to immigration raids, school leaders are “concerned about the first, second, third week of school,” he said. “We do not know what the enrollment will be like.”

Last week, the district saw a 7% increase in enrollment for virtual learning, Carvalho added.

“Make no mistake, the federal immigration enforcement in our communities is not just about policy, and I think we all know that,” said district board Vice President Rocio Rivas. “What it is is trauma and it is fear, and it’s robbing our children of the peace of mind that they need to learn, grow and thrive.”

The district’s safety measures thus far include:

• Additional routes for buses, plus accommodations for specific bus routes if requested by parents
• Enrollment options at virtual academies for students afraid of attending school in person
• Packets to be distributed on the first day of school with information about families’ rights, emergency contact updates in case of detention or deportation, and more
• Deployment of over 1,000 central and district office staff to provide “safe passage” as students enter and leave schools
• Enforce automatic protocols for lockdowns if immigration activity is detected near schools

A push for increased safety

The teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, which was present at the press conference, demanded in a rally earlier this month that the district do more to protect students.

Their list of demands includes that the district:

• Push for the return of all detained and deported students
• Establish a perimeter around schools that immigration officials would not be able to enter
• Develop an option for deported students to complete their high school diplomas virtually
• Provide counseling to families before the new school year begins
• Offer a virtual learning option for students who may be too afraid to attend school in person
• Provide legal support and basic needs items, such as food, for undocumented students and their families

“We’re glad that the district is beginning to implement some of the demands educators have made for the safety of our students and school communities,” said Julie Van Winkle, a vice president of the teachers union, during the press conference. “We will also continue to push for more.”

Also in attendance at the press conference were mayors of cities across Los Angeles that have seen an increase in immigration presence and raids.

Among them was Ali Saleh, mayor of Bell, where a 17-year-old student was detained during an immigration appointment for her legal asylum case; Arturo Flores, mayor of Huntington Park, which has been at the center of several high-profile immigration raids; and Chelsea Lee Byers, mayor of West Hollywood, which recently joined the legal effort to stop indiscriminate immigration raids.

Collaboration with local law enforcement

Carvalho also announced increased presence and collaboration with local law enforcement, assigning Steve Zipperman, former L.A. Unified chief of police, to lead a new district task force charged with quickly communicating and coordinating with the Los Angeles Police Department and municipal police departments.

The coordination with outside law enforcement agencies is the district’s attempt to “balance out the loss of jurisdiction and power in those areas outside of our schools,” Carvalho said.

A recent CalMatters investigation, however, found that the Los Angeles Police Department, or LAPD, was one of 10 California law enforcement agencies this year that illegally shared license plate data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Additionally, reports have mounted of the LAPD’s excessive use of force toward journalists and L.A. residents protesting immigration raids this summer. Videos have shown police officers on horses trampling people, shooting a rubber bullet at a journalist and deploying tear gas into crowds of peaceful protesters, alongside the L.A. Sheriff’s Department.

During the press conference, Carvalho suggested requesting that no immigration enforcement actions occur within a two-block radius around schools; however, he declined to provide further details regarding the request.