Pasadena Unified School Board to Hear Resolution Aimed at Creating “Safe Zones” for Immigrant Students

On Thursday, the Pasadena Unified School District’s Board of Education will vote on a resolution aimed at creating “safe zones for migrant students.”

The resolution was designed to allay fears and anxiety of the District’s students and their parents related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities at Pasadena public schools.

If passed, the District would declare as policy “that every Pasadena Unified School District site is a safe place for its students and their
families to seek help, assistance, and information if faced with fear and anxiety about related immigration enforcement efforts.”

Among other things, the resolution will require personnel working for the school district to “treat all students equitably in the receipt of all school services,” including educational instruction, transportation, and the free and reduced-cost lunch program that PUSD runs in its schools in the Pasadena area.

Pasadena Unified School Board Member Elizabeth Pomeroy authored the resolution, and said it was in response to fears that new immigration enforcement policies may be implemented that could affect the way students at PUSD schools behave as they continue their studies, especially those who have just recently arrived in the U.S. from other countries and whose parents may still be facing immigration issues.

“We have quite a large number of students who have come to us from other countries and from many different backgrounds, and this concern for stability and the safety of our students applies to quite a large number of children who are in our District,” Pomeroy said. “We want to reconfirm to the families and to the children that school will proceed as usual. They don’t need to worry or keep their children home, or anything of that kind.”

Pomeroy said other cities in the U.S. have been adopting similar policies and resolutions for the protection of their students, especially in public schools. The resolution’s author also took inspiration from Los Angeles Unified School District and other school districts in California who have taken similar steps in this direction, Pomeroy said.

Pomeroy added she has been on the Pasadena Unified Board for seven years, and she knows of no incident when ICE agents have ever stepped into any Pasadena Unified school to enforce immigration policies.

In the resolution, immigration agents who may want to enter a PUSD school must formally request access from the PUSD Superintendent and the PUSD General Counsel before access is allowed.

Board Member Scott Phelps said the resolution was drafted with the help of local attorneys and some advice from Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network Pasadena chapter, and his staff.

Phelps said he supports the resolution and sees it as a continuation of the roles that schools play – specifically in not asking about a student’s immigration status – and predicts passage of the when the Board of Education meets Thursday to act on it.

Alvarado himself said he and lawyers assisting his organization went over the draft of the resolution and helped refine the provisions.

“The kids, most importantly, need to feel safe about their learning,” Alvarado said. He said he feels positive the resolution will pass at the PUSD school board.

Alvarado also said the resolution could be a first step towards making Pasadena a sanctuary city for immigrants, but it will need to be supported by other policies that may have to be implemented at the city or county level. He cited as an example a declaration by the City of Los Angeles setting aside a fund for use in the legal defense of immigrants facing deportation proceedings.

Pomeroy said the draft resolution cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Plyler vs. Doe in 1982, which said that no public school district has a basis to deny children access to education based on their immigration status. The ruling says children have little control over their immigration status and the harm it could inflict on the child and society.