With new changes to federal immigration enforcement policy, Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) has designated principals as the main point of contact if federal agents seek to interview or remove a student from school, but so far, no such interactions have arisen. 

On Jan. 20, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued two directives significantly altering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policies. 

One of the directives removed the policy barring law enforcement from “sensitive” areas such as schools, churches and hospitals. 

On Feb. 10, ACPS sent out a memo directing school administration on how to interact with law enforcement officers on campus. The memo is now posted on the district’s website under Law Enforcement Interaction on the Safety and Security page. 

The memo notes that ACPS policy prohibits the schools from requesting or maintaining information regarding a student’s immigration status, and schools cannot release student records without either written parental consent, a subpoena, warrant or court order, or a health/safety emergency. 

The memo advises readers that ICE agents have broad authority for immigration law enforcement and can remove and interview students with or without a warrant. It provides the following directions for school administrators in case a law enforcement officer seeks to interview or remove a student: 

• Request identification from the law enforcement officer 

• Request to make copies of any warrants, subpoenas or judicial orders 

• Request permission to contact the student’s parent before or after an interview/removal 

• Request that the administrator retrieve the student 

• Request to be present during the student interview 

• Request that the law enforcement officer complete the district’s Release of Student to Outside Agency form if a student is removed from campus 

ACPS spokesperson Jackie Johnson said the district also followed up on the memo with presentations at principal meetings. 

As of March 4, Johnson said none of the district’s schools have had interactions with ICE since the memo went out. 

Attendance averages remained similar, with a district-wide average of 90.56% attendance in January and a 91.40% average in February. 

At the last meeting of the School Board of Alachua County on Feb. 18, parents, grandparents and teachers of ACPS students made public comments on the ICE procedures, saying schools should be considered private spaces and the district should improve its training. 

ACPS grandparent Julie Crosby called the instructions given to teachers and administrators “unethical and inadequate,” saying the directions make it easier for a federal agent to question or remove a child from school premises than it is for a parent to visit their child or take them out of school.” 

“Though policy directs student records not be shared with agents without a judicial warrant, the administrator may hand over the actual child themselves, subjecting them to interrogation, perhaps not even in their primary language, without counsel and most importantly, without their parents’ care,” Crosby said. 

Crosby called on the district to develop grade-level appropriate instruction for students on their rights to not cooperate with agents. 

Buchholz High School parent Margarita Vargas-Betancourt asked how ACPS would protect students who could be subject to racial profiling if ICE does not need a warrant to pull them out of school. She said she does not believe allowing ICE into schools without a judicial warrant is in line with federal law. 

“I would very respectfully ask that you consult with other attorneys from around the country so that we protect our children,” Vargas-Betancourt said. “Because our children are our future, regardless of their skin color and their origin, or their immigration status.” 

Alejandra Contreras Caballero, a local lawyer, said officers must establish reasonable suspicion before detaining anyone. She, along with other commentors, urged the board to require a judicial warrant from ICE agents. 

According to Johnson, ACPS reviewed information and talked to representatives from other Florida school districts both before and after issuing guidance on interactions with law enforcement to the schools. 

“Our guidance is consistent with that issued by a number of other districts, our school board policies and state and federal laws,” Johnson wrote in an email to Mainstreet. 

Johnson said the principals, who are to be “point person” for all law enforcement interactions on campus, all received training. She said staff’s requirement to comply with law enforcement directives is consistent with guidance provided throughout the state and by other entities, including the National Education Association. 

“It would not be appropriate for the district to provide legal guidance to students or families,” Johnson wrote.