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HSI officers were denied access to students by both schools’ principals.
During a recent meeting with the senators, HSI claimed that they went to LAUSD schools to conduct “welfare checks” on formerly unaccompanied immigrant children. Padilla and Schiff questioned why HSI did not coordinate with the California Department of Social Services, or the schools, if they believed migrant children were at risk.
Padilla and Schiff expressed serious concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents potentially entering schools without warrants. The senators said HSI should not conduct any future “welfare checks” on elementary school children.
A DHS spokesperson said HSI officers “were at these schools conducting wellness checks on children who arrived unaccompanied at the border. This had nothing to do with immigration enforcement. DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited, abused, and sex trafficked.”
Schiff and Padilla wrote a joint letter to the Trump administration Friday stating, “We are deeply concerned that HSI officers attempted to question several children, between first and sixth grade, during the school day apparently without contacting or coordinating in advance with the schools, parents or guardians, or state or local child welfare agencies. We urge you to ensure that HSI does not conduct any additional ‘welfare checks’ on school premises and that ICE agents do not attempt to visit or enter schools without a warrant.”
The senators said if ICE and HSI want to ensure the wellbeing of unaccompanied migrant children, the agencies should urge the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and the White House to restore legal and social services for these children, “rather than terrorizing them and their classmates at school.”
President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have vastly expanded who is eligible for deportation and lifted a ban on immigration enforcement in schools.
Employees of Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest district, were trained months ago in anticipation of arrivals by federal agents to campuses.
“I am proud of these principals. I am proud of the clerical staff in the front office for they did exactly what we trained them to do,” LA school district superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.
“I’m still mystified as to how a first, second, third, fourth or sixth grader would pose any type of risk to the national security of our nation that would require Homeland Security to deploy its agents to two elementary schools,” Carvalho said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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