State officials issued a nine-page guidance last week on how schools can protect the rights of immigrant students, documented and undocumented, just days before Donald Trump was set to take office again on Monday.
The document, “New York State Guidance on Safeguarding the Rights of Immigrant Students,” addresses issues such as school enrollment requirements, student information release, and potential law enforcement detention of students.
This may seem like an unusual message to send to schools in Nassau County and across the state as Trump re-enters the Oval Office. But then again, so was the message that Trump sent during his latest presidential campaign and the transition period.
During the 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to implement mass deportations, the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, targeting millions of undocumented immigrants on Day One of his administration.
Trump’s plans include rescinding the 2011 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “sensitive locations” policy, which previously restricted enforcement actions at places like schools, churches and hospitals. This would allow ICE agents to conduct arrests in these locations without prior approval.
Trump’s plans have been greeted by concerns from Latino advocacy groups and religious leaders.
“You almost physically feel the tremor” of fear and uncertainty, Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island, said in a recently published report.
The Rev. Canon Marie Tatro, who leads the community justice ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, highlighted the possibility of immigration agents conducting raids in churches. She said such actions could severely damage trust, deterring individuals from seeking essential spiritual and community support.
The document released by the state Education Department, Gov Kathy Hochul, and Attorney General Letitia James said schools should remain a safe haven where all students are welcomed and provided with a free public education.
But incoming border czar Thomas Homan, who served as acting ICE director during Trump’s first administration, has said the “sensitive location” policy could risk public safety.
Given this disagreement, the guidance issued by the state, which focuses on immigration laws, makes sense
The guidance states that personal information about a student, such as immigration status, citizenship, or national origin information or documentation, cannot be released without a “judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena.”
The document goes on to say that school districts must contact their attorneys before disclosing any student information if officials receive a subpoena and students should not be refused admission to a school based on their “national origin, immigration status, race or language proficiency,” among other grounds.
The guidelines also say that school officials must immediately enroll homeless migrant students who lack required documentation, and they are prohibited from disclosing records with information about students’ immigration status to school resource officers.
Law enforcement officers may not remove a student from school property or interrogate a student without the consent of a parent or person in parental relation unless a warrant or an order authorizing the custody is issued.
The guidance also advises schools to have updated emergency contact information for students and secondary emergency contact in case a parent is detained or deported.
At least some of this advice could be rendered inoperative by Trump’s signing of executive orders on Monday, Jan. 20. These orders declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the federal government to bypass standard due process protections.
Trump also reinstated the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their U.S. immigration cases are processed, designated drug cartels as terrorist organizations and announced he intends to challenge the 14th Amendment’s provision of birthright citizenship to prevent children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents from automatically obtaining citizenship.
He also signed an executive order canceling special immigrant status to people from four troubled countries – El Salvador, Venezuela, Cuba and Hatti – given by the Biden Administration.
Nassau County seems unlikely to be impacted directly, at least initially.
The Trump administration has said it will focus its deportations on large cities like Chicago and New York, aiming to enforce federal immigration laws in jurisdictions that have previously limited cooperation with immigration authorities.
These sanctuary cities’ policies are intended to protect undocumented immigrants and foster trust between immigrant communities and local government agencies, particularly law enforcement.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a political ally of Trump, has consistently stated that Nassau County is not a sanctuary county and will not participate in sanctuary programs.
In May 2023, he emphasized that the federal government is responsible for immigration policy. “It is not the responsibility of local government. It is the responsibility of the federal government to have a national policy,” he said.
The state guidance may be more relevant in New York City,
But Nassau County could still be impacted by deportations taking place in nearby Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, where many who work in Nassau County live. This is particularly true in hospitality, construction and health care. Many immigrants have also opened their own businesses, some in Nassau County.
And while sanctuary cities may be the Trump administration’s focus in the beginning, he has pledged to remove 11 million undocumented immigrations estimated to live in the United States, with 1 million to 2 million being affected in the first year of his administration.
Which is to say that Nassau school officials should keep the state guidelines handy.
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