Community Self-Defense

WELLNESS PLAN

Dear Students, Staff, and Community Members,
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We’re sharing important resources to help you, your family, and our broader community prepare in the event of immigration detainment. At New Opportunities Organization, we remain committed to standing with you and providing the tools and information you may need during uncertain times.
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‍Included:
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•  A Family Preparedness Flyer outlining key steps

• Legal forms: Power of Attorney, Caregiver Authorization Affidavit, and G-28 Form

• Two brief Know Your Rights videos for quick, accessible guidance:
  Video 1: We Have Rights: When ICE Is Outside Our Doors
‍  Video 2: Know Your Rights & Family Preparedness

•  Freedom from Fear 2.0 Policy
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These materials were recommended by our Legal Counsel, Salomon Zavala.


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Estimados estudiantes, personal y miembros de la comunidad:

Estos recursos importantes que estamos compartiendo es para ayudarles a usted, a su familia y a nuestra comunidad a prepararse en caso de una detención migratoria. La organización de New Opportunities, seguimos comprometidos a estar a su lado y a proporcionar las herramientas e información que pueda necesitar en tiempos de incertidumbre.

Incluido en este mensaje:

•  Un volante sobre Preparación Familiar delineando los pasos

•  Formularios legales: Poder Notarial, Declaración Jurada de Autorización del Cuidador y Formulario G-28

•  Dos videos breves sobre Conocer Sus Derechos para una orientación rápida y accesible:
  Video 1: Tenemos Derechos: Cuando ICE Está Fuera de Nuestra Puerta
  Video 2: Conocer Sus Derechos y Preparación Familiar

•  Póliza Freedom from Fear 2.0

Estos materiales fueron recomendados por nuestro Asesor General, Salomon Zavala.

Documents

Videos

Freedom from fear 2.0

Anawakalmekak is the only Indigenous TK-12th grade Community Charter School in Los Angeles County since 2002. Recognizing that our families come from all parts of Los Angeles County and are members of a variety of Indigenous Peoples whose traditional cultural and ancestral corridors include the Uto-Azteca linguistic family regions such as Los Angeles, CA. Additionally affirming, that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples memorializes that: Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law. (Article 1) States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language. (Article 14.3)

Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international borders, have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and cooperation, including activities for spiritual, cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with their own members as well as other peoples across borders. (Article 36.1)

‍WHEREAS: Anawakalmekak’s community of students and parents come from all parts of the world, including Zapoteca, Maya, Azteca, Otomí, Gabrielino-Shoshone, we reassert our right to self-determination;

WHEREAS: The United States Supreme Court held in Plyer v. Doe (1982) that no public school district has a basis to deny children access to education based on their immigration status, citing the harm it would inflict on the child and society itself, and the equal protection rights of the Fourteenth Amendment;

‍WHEREAS: Migration to this country is often propelled by social, economic, and political factors and Native county conditions, which result partly from U.S. government and corporate policies and interests, and thus immigrants and their families are here entitled to compassionate and humane treatment in this country;

‍WHEREAS: Ensuring that our schools are safe and inviting for all students and their families will facilitate the physical safety and emotional well-being of all children in the District, and is paramount to students’ ability to achieve;

‍WHEREAS: This safe and inviting environment would be disrupted by the presence of immigration agents who come onto District property for the purposes of removing students or their family members, or obtaining information about students and their families;

‍WHEREAS: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) activities in and around schools, early education centers, and adult school facilities would be a severe disruption to the learning environment and educational setting for students;

‍WHEREAS: Immigration enforcement activities around schools create hardships and barriers to health and educational attainment, and a pervasive climate of fear, conflict and stress that affects all students in our District, regardless of their background or status, such that children who have a status but whose family members, friends, or schoolmates do not, and students who are themselves undocumented, are all affected and at risk;WHEREAS: Threats of legal action, and particularly of separation and deportation, against students and their families create severe emotional, psychological and physical barriers to learning and education that can and should be allayed or reduced through support systems, including legal representation, provided by the school District;

WHEREAS: Students’ ability to achieve is undermined by the removal of their family members during ICE raids and arrests that leave students without adults to supervise or care for them, and the District should have in place policies and procedures to protect and care for such students until a guardian or other designated adult is contacted, and all teachers, administrators and staff should be trained on such procedures;

‍WHEREAS: Immigration arrests, detentions, and deportations affects families every day, and indications that deportations will increase dramatically has created a climate of heightened fear and anxiety for many students and their families;

‍WHEREAS: The record number of deportations in recent years tragically has broken apart loving families, devastated communities, and caused widespread fear among immigrants and their family members;

‍WHEREAS: Involving campus police in enforcing federal civil immigration law will create the perception that they are immigration agents and decrease students’ likelihood of cooperating with campus police based on fears that this would lead to their deportation or the deportation of family members;

‍WHEREAS: Some cities, counties, school districts, and higher education institutions have adopted policies that restrict entanglement with ICE and resist any government action that may lead to the discovery of a person’s immigration status;

‍WHEREAS: ICE’s longstanding policy states that it will not conduct immigration enforcement activity at any sensitive location, which includes schools, without special permission by specific federal law enforcement officials, unless exigent circumstances exist;

‍WHEREAS: No written state or federal law mandates that local districts assist ICE in the enforcement of immigration laws;

‍THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Governing Board of the Los Angeles School District hereby declares that every LAUSD 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 immigration enforcement efforts;

‍RESOLVED FURTHER: That the Superintendent shall establish all K-12 schools, early education centers, adult schools, and parent centers be established as resource and information sites for immigrant students and families;

‍RESOLVED FURTHER: That the Board encourages the Superintendent to increase and enhance partnerships with community-based organizations and legal services organizations who provide resources for families facing deportation;

‍RESOLVED FURTHER: That the Board directs the Superintendent to create in-language Know Your Rights presentations for students and family members to cover their rights regarding interactions with law enforcement and immigration agents.

‍RESOLVED FURTHER: That the Board directs the Superintendent to create a rapid response network to assist students or their family members who have been detained,

‍RESOLVED FURTHER: In order to provide a public education, regardless of a child’s or family member’s immigration status, absent any applicable federal, state, or local law, regulation, ordinance or court decision, the District shall abide by the following conduct: District personnel shall not inquire about or record a student’s or a family member’s immigration status, and pursuant to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), shall not disclose, without parental consent, the immigration status of any student or other personally identifiable information.

Any communication to federal agencies or officials initiated by a school or school personnel concerning confidential information about a student or a student’s family member, including but not limited to: information about gender identity; sexual orientation; status as a survivor of domestic violence; survivor of sexual assault; crime witness; recipient of public assistance; actual or perceived immigration or citizenship status; national origin; school discipline record; and all information included in an individual’s or household’s income tax records, is prohibited, unless permission is granted by the student or student’s parent or guardian.

The District shall refuse all voluntary information sharing with immigration agents across all aspects of the District to the fullest extent possible under the law.Any request by immigration agents for information or to access a school site shall be initially denied and immediately forwarded to the Superintendent and General Counsel for review and a decision on whether to reverse the denial and allow access to the site, and/or a decision on whether the information will ensure District compliance with Plyler v. Doe and other applicable laws. The request must be provided with adequate notice so that the Superintendent and General Counsel can take steps to provide for the emotional and physical safety of its students and staff.

Should an immigration agent request access to a school site, the Superintendent and/or General Counsel shall ask for the immigration agent’s credentials, ask the agent why the agent is requesting access, and ask to see a warrant signed by a federal or state Judge.

Immigration agents must provide written authority from ICE instructing them to enter District property and for what purpose as well as a warrant signed by a federal or state Judge which specifies the name of the person under arrest.The District will not enter into agreements with state or local law enforcement agencies, ICE, or any other federal agency for the enforcement of federal immigration law, except as required by law.

The District and its staff, faculty, employees, and campus police will not honor any ICE detainers or requests.Campus security are prohibited from inquiring about or recording any information regarding an individual’s immigration status or country of birth.

Campus police shall create a policy acknowledging that they have no authority to enforce federal immigration law and declaring that they will not participate in immigration enforcement efforts of federal authorities. This includes campus police not holding people on ICE detainers, not responding to ICE notification or transfer requests, not making arrests based on civil immigration warrants, and not allowing ICE to use campus facilities for immigration enforcement purposes.

District personnel shall treat all students equitably in the receipt of all school services, including but, not limited to, the free and reduced lunch program, transportation, and educational instruction.

The District will offer (a) legal support to immigrant students and their families; (b) counseling that that adequately acknowledges the impact of immigration status on students and their family members; and (c) Know Your Rights presentations to students and parents in- language; and (d) the District will ensure that students are aware of opportunities to gain access to college, in-state tuition, financial aid, scholarships, internships and career opportunities, regardless of their status. To implement this support system, each school in the District shall establish an office space on campus that serves as a resource center for immigrant students and their families and shall establish at least one paid position for an immigrant liaison, with expertise in immigrant and undocumented populations.The District shall fund attorneys to represent students facing removal proceedings, and assist family members of students who are in removal proceedings with legal resources and information.

‍RESOLVED FURTHER: That the Superintendent shall ensure that all teachers, school administrators, and other staff will be trained on how to implement this policy and notification in no less than the top 10 languages spoken by students throughout the District to be distributed to families to fully inform them of their rights in the District;

‍RESOLVED FURTHER: Within the next 90 days the Superintendent shall develop a plan for training teachers, administrators and other staff on how to respond to ICE personnel who are requesting information about students and families and/or are attempting to enter school property. The plan shall also include procedures for notifying families about ICE efforts to gain information about students and families, and how to support students whose family members have been displaced because of ICE. This plan shall be communicated to all school district families in all supported languages.

‍RESOLVED FURTHER:  The Superintendent shall prepare an implementation plan defining partnerships with community organizations and training and support for school site employees to ensure rapid response and effective coordination and report back to the Board in 90 days.

Definitions
“Citizenship or immigration status” means all matters regarding questions of citizenship of the United States or any other country, the authority to reside in or otherwise be present in the United States, the time or manner of a person’s entry into the Unites States, or any other civil immigration matter enforced by the Department of Homeland Security or other federal agency charged with the enforcement of civil immigration law.

“Immigration agent” shall mean an agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, any individuals authorized to conduct enforcement of civil immigration laws under 8 U.S.C. §1357(g) or any other federal law, other federal agents charged with enforcement of civil immigration laws, and any successors.

“Enforcement actions” include arrests; interviews; searches; surveillance; obtaining records, documents, and similar materials; and other actions for the purposes of immigration enforcement.