Minneapolis advocates educating schools about their rights in case of ICE visits
A new federal law gives U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the right to operate on school grounds.
In a cramped Minneapolis office, Carlos Mariani Rosa is in high gear — the result of working in education equity during a time of uncertainty. Especially now, as to how ICE will conduct itself at schools, now that it can.
"Years ago, it was not the practice to go into a school. The thought was, well, we're going to have to adjust now. How do we respond to that?" said Rosa. "How do we live up to, how do we carry out that constitutional right in an environment where parents are afraid that students might be carted away?"
The fear is tangible for more families than you'd expect.
Rosa says between 70,000-80,000 kids in Minnesota schools have at least one person at home without immigration status.
So he, and a team, got to work.
"We were a bit surprised by the wide range of interest," said Rosa.
The group has educated more than 150 districts from each corner of the state on their rights and responsibilities, should ICE arrive.
"At the core of it, there's still the need for schools to know how to comply within the law," said Rosa. "Schools should have a policy, a clear policy in place."
Rosa went on to say, "The most core legal part of that policy should be an expectation that any governmental unit wanting to have access to students or school grounds should have a judiciary warrant."
While there's been no documented activity yet, Rosa says the steps districts are taking should be comforting to all families.
NOTE: The people WCCO spoke with say their goal isn't to invalidate immigration enforcement but to make sure everyone knows their rights. That includes schools, students, and families.
On Friday, the Minnesota Attorney General came out with similar guidance.
