\u201cHonestly, everybody is terrified,\u201d Vanessa said.<\/p>\n
The union called for a directly confrontational approach with the Trump administration \u2014 including involvement in litigation to protect immigrant rights. The school system is not currently involved in litigation with the Trump administration, officials said, although district leaders have strongly criticized its actions.<\/p>\n
Specific union demands include establishing a two-block perimeter around schools where immigration agents would not be allowed.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear that district officials or staff would have jurisdiction beyond school grounds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kindergarten teacher Esther Calderon joins hundreds of other educators in a Saturday rally calling for better protections and support for immigrant students and families.<\/p>\n
(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The union also called for a \u201cformal campaign\u201d that would work with families to update emergency cards and add additional trusted adults to the list of a family\u2019s contacts, in case, for example, a student\u2019s parents are detained. <\/p>\n
L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho has said outreach for this purpose is ongoing.<\/p>\n
The union also is calling for counselors to be paid to return to work prior to the first day of school to make sure families affected or potentially affected by immigration enforcement are willing and prepared to have their children return to school.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear how many students or family members of students have been taken into custody or deported. The school district does not collect information on immigration status. A few cases have become high profile and widely reported on. In other instances, however, both district policy and privacy protections limit what the school system discloses.<\/p>\n
Union leaders said they also want the district to provide food and personal care items \u201cto undocumented families who are sheltering in place in their homes,\u201d as well as provide a virtual learning option for students \u201cwho are afraid to attend school in person because of immigration raids.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they called for the district to develop a \u201cpathway\u201d for students who have been deported to earn their LAUSD diplomas through virtual completion of all required high school units, and to be a \u201cleader\u201d in providing legal support for all those affected by the immigration raids \u2014 including school staff who stand up in defense of immigrants.<\/p>\n
The superintendent\u2019s office had no immediate response to the specific demands, but school board President Scott Schmerelson said the district would consider any steps to protect and support families. <\/p>\n
Schmerelson attended the Saturday rally as a spectator.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these ideas seem very workable,\u201d Schmerelson said. \u201cThe superintendent is working on the safe passageways,\u201d he said, referring to the concept of a safety perimeter. <\/p>\n
In their chants, union members vowed to shut the school system down if it did not meet their demands \u2014 even though their hostility was more clearly directed toward the federal government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis violence affects all of us,\u201d said UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz. \u201cImmigrant students are Black, they\u2019re brown and they\u2019re Asian. And the trauma inflicted on these communities impacts every single one of them. When a student is torn from their family or lives in fear, their classmates feel it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThe mental well-being of entire classrooms is at stake. That is why we demand LAUSD join educators in publicly calling our local and state leaders for the immediate return of all students who have been deported or detained so that they can resume their education.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement in response to the union rally, the school system emphasized shared goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear that Los Angeles Unified and our labor partners are united in our deep commitment to protect every student, including our immigrant children,\u201d the statement said. \u201cTogether, we will continue to take every measure necessary to ensure that all children in Los Angeles are safe, supported, and educated \u2014 rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
At his traditional back-to-school address<\/a> \u2014 classes begin Aug. 13 \u2014 Carvalho saluted two principals who, along with their staff, turned away immigration agents at two elementary school campuses.<\/p>\n The agents \u2014 who stopped at the schools<\/a> on the same morning in April \u2014 said they were doing welfare checks on particular students but provided no documentation to support this claim.<\/p>\n The principals turned them away.<\/p>\n \u201cYou became shields, protecting the innocent lives of 7-, 8-, 10-year-olds from fear they should never, ever know,\u201d Carvalho said in his remarks. \u201cYes, you followed protocol, but more importantly, you followed your conscience. Because of your conviction, … an unimaginable day did not become an unthinkable tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n School district officials have touted a list of measures<\/a> taken to protect students and families and characterize campuses as a safe environment from which federal immigration agents will be excluded to the fullest extent of the law.<\/p>\n