Dallas-area school staffer put on leave after allegedly threatening student with deportation

Lancaster, Texas – The parents of a 14-year-old Hispanic student at the Lancaster Independent School District's Obama 9th Grade Center are furious after, they say, a staffer threatened the teen with deportation. He is a U.S. citizen, reports CBS Dallas.

"You're basically scaring him," his mother told the station.  "Now, he thinks I'm going to get deported. Now, he thinks he might get deported."

"I was very upset," she said. "I was very humiliated. I felt embarrassed for him."

Lancaster ISD placed the employee on administrative leave. School officials are investigating.

It began when the student came to school without a belt and was put in in-school suspension. That's where the staffer interacted with the teen.

"He told him, 'Even though you are a citizen, Trump is working on a law where he can deport you, too, because of your mom's status,"' the teen's mother said.

Although she says she's in the country legally, she didn't want to be identified, fearing retaliation, but when she visited the school looking for answers, she got the staffer to show her what he showed her son: a coin emblazoned with the word ICE.

"Basically, he was afraid. You show him this ICE thing. He doesn't know what that is. All he knows, he knows what's going on right now," his mother said.

She said the staffer was trying to teach her son a lesson for responding "yeah" instead of "yes sir."

Lancaster ISD told CBS 11 in a statement it "is aware of the comments made by a staff member to a student. We are working to gather all of the information so that we can conduct a thorough investigation. As of now the employee has been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation. Lancaster ISD does not support nor will we tolerate behavior that promotes division. Our district takes pride in being an inclusive district that puts students first regardless of their background. It is our goal to ensure a quality education for all students and a safe learning environment."

There's a school board meeting Thursday that the teen's parents say they plan to attend. They want a better plan in place for how to handle future incidents like this one.