Springfield – This week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is ending a well-established federal policy that regulated how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could operate in and around schools and churches.
Previously, schools were classified as “sensitive locations,” which meant ICE agents were generally prohibited from conducting enforcement actions there, with a few exceptions. According to the statement from DHS, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools.”
The following statement is attributable to IEA President Al Llorens:
“We will not stand by and let our students, our families and our communities be torn apart. No family should be criminalized for wanting a safe and better future. In this country, every child has the right to learn at our public schools, colleges and universities. And here in Illinois, it is the IEA’s mission to make sure ALL children have access to an equitable, high-quality public education. School buildings should be safe havens. Our students should not have to fear attending school. Their parents should not have to worry that their children might not come home because they were taken into custody by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Students should not have to worry about being separated from their families. Our educators should not be put in the crosshairs of these political policies. School employees should be allowed to focus on supporting and educating all our students. We will do whatever it takes to protect ALL our students, our teachers, our school support staff, our communities.”
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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state’s largest union. IEA represents Pre K-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
