Fears over recent ICE activity impacting Tri-State Area schools, places of worship, officials say
NEW YORK — While New York City and Newark, New Jersey are sanctuary cities, the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and President Donald Trump's directives cracking down on immigration have many in the area fearing for their futures.
The panic is starting to impact schools and places of worship in the area.
Religious leaders voice concerns about sanctity of houses of worship
In the historic Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Friday, reverends, rabbis and imams joined in concern over the sanctity of their sanctuaries.
"We do not ask about documentation or immigration status. We simply ask if you're hungry or lonely or cold," said Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd, with the Episcopal Diocese of New York.
The clergy claims the Trump administration's reversal this week of a Biden-era policy that prevents federal immigration agents from conducting operations in churches and schools is impeding worship and outreach.
"I don't think we can practice our Christianity without being able to provide safety to the people who come to practice and to worship with us," said Rev. Canon Alissa Newton, with the Episcopal Diocese of New York.
School officials say some parents, students fear being detained
Those fears are also seeping into the city's public schools, which enroll thousands of migrant students.
"I spoke with a first-grade teacher last week who shared with me that every day she has a 6-year-old girl who comes to her and asks to be sent to the nurse, and the reason she asks to be sent to the nurse is because she wants to be sent home," said Katie Kurjakovic, an English language learners specialist with the United Federation of Teachers. "Because she is so deathly afraid that the longer the day is, the bigger the chance that she will never be able to be reunited with her mother."
Earlier this week, Mayor Eric Adams assured an administrator in Queens that parents should continue sending kids to school.
"Children should go to school. Those who need health care should go to hospitals. Those who are involved in any type of interaction where they're victims of crime, they should speak to law enforcement agencies," Adams said.
The New York City School Board has also passed a resolution affirming the city's practice of barring federal Immigration agents from school grounds without a court order.
"If ICE is to approach a school and asks to come in, they need to show a judicial warrant, a warrant signed by a judge for a specific person or a subpoena for a specific item," said Naveed Hasan, with the New York City Department of Education Panel for Educational Policy.
Hasan advises non-citizen parents to provide an emergency contact to their schools of someone who can pick up child up from dismissal in case the parent is detained.