SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As the threats of mass deportations loom, public schools are taking measures to protect students and their families.
Schools are no longer off limits for federal immigration agents to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants. This is a shift that has created fear inside the classrooms and outside during pick-up times.
"All of our families and students are hypersensitive to anyone that they suspect to be law enforcement. Anyone who they suspect to be after them and as you can imagine, that impacts a student's ability to stay focus in the classroom," said Maria Su, SFUSD's superintendent.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security revoked a 2011 policy that restricted immigration agents from conducting raids on what they classified as sensitive areas, which include churches and schools. Even before schools became a target, San Francisco Unified School District had been preparing.
"We have actually provided training and information to all of our site leaders over the last several weeks in preparation for this," said Su.
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We sat down with SFUSD's superintendent, Maria Su. She said San Francisco schools will remain a safe haven for students regardless of immigration status.
Luz Pena: "What happens if an ICE agent shows up to an SFUSD school?
Maria Su: "All of our site leaders know that if an ICE agent shows up at their school site, they need to immediately call our legal office first and allow our legal office to work directly with the ICE agent to confirm and verify why and what is the intend and purpose for the ICE agents coming to the school."
SFUSD does not keep track of student's legal status, but on their public data dashboard of the 2023-2024 school year there were over 12,000 SFUSD students enrolled in English learner classes.
Based on the total number of enrolled students, the English learner group makes up 25% of SFUSD students. The majority are Latinos and Chinese.
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"In San Francisco, we are very fortunate that we are a sanctuary city where everyone who lives here are protected by the sanctity of those laws," said Su.
Despite sanctuary cities being threatened by the Trump administration, SFUSD is joining forces with the city and nonprofits to help families.
"We are providing an information number. We are providing know your rights training at many of our school sites. There was one at Monroe for example all this last weekend. We are encouraging all our site leaders to have a clear plan and know what their rights are," said Jaime Huling, vice president of the SF School board.
Su is hoping their protocol is strong enough when faced with ICE agents at any of the city schools.
"We will do whatever it takes to prevent any such types of enforcement to come onto our school sites. Particularly, the immigration enforcement," said Su.