As President Trump calls for mass deportations, Pittsburgh area schools scramble to clarify their policies
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - With President Trump calling for the largest mass deportation in the country's history; it has some concerned about sending their children to school.
What are schools required to do and how are they planning to deal with this situation?
According to school districts, it's their own policies they have to create on handling these situations if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is to come to a school. While there is some ambiguity with the districts, there are some standards they are required to follow.
According to information from the U.S. Department of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services, districts can't ask students about their immigration status.
"Our focus is protecting the students, protecting their records, and making sure they are safe in school," Pittsburgh Public Schools solicitor Ira Weiss said.
He said school leaders have sent out memos to staff addressing if ICE comes to a school. It would include building administrators handling it. Any visit from ICE would need to be with a warrant. To this point, there's been no raids at schools.
"We've had anecdotal reports of ICE vehicles being in certain neighborhoods," Weiss said.
Other districts echo this. Belle Vernon sent out a memo telling staff that building administrators are to be contacted immediately. It adds that no one should interfere with any ICE activities, but they are not to share any student information.
Aliquippa is more of the same. Unless there is a valid warrant signed by a judge or an emergency, law enforcement including ICE can't come into schools.
"This is a day-to-day situation, and we follow the announcements closely," Weiss said.
According to Pittsburgh Public, their data doesn't suggest there has been a chilling effect on attendance. They will have a better idea over the next few weeks.
