Federal officials with the Department of Homeland Security visited two elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District on April 7.
The officials claimed they were conducting a wellness check on children they claim had arrived unaccompanied at the border.
But Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told NPR such actions are not typical.
"We have no evidence, nor do I have information of a wellness check conducted by the Department of Homeland Security having taken place in Los Angeles, not only this year, last year, or going back a number of years."
In both cases the officials were denied entry by the school's principals.
According to Carvalho, the school district has "a fairly rigid set of protocols specific to these types of actions." During the latter part of the year, he says staff at schools were trained on these protocols "because we, in fact, anticipated this type of action would occur in Los Angeles, considering the demographic profile of our community and of our student body."
The southern California school district is the second largest in the nation, and 73 percent of its student population is of Latino or Hispanic origin.
These DHS visits coincided with the Trump Administration's push for mass deportations. As a former teacher and principal, Carvalho believes it's the responsibility of school districts to stand up for students in the country without legal status. It's also personal: Carvalho also arrived in the country without legal status as a teenager.
"I'm a proud American by choice, not by chance. I arrived here as a poor, young teenager. I was once homeless in this country," Carvalho said. "I know what the fear of your life circumstance can be and the impact it can have on a young person. I still feel it today, I taste, I remember it."
NPR reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and received a response from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin asserting that officers identified themselves and made clear they were conducting a welfare check and not an immigration enforcement action.
"DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on children who came across the border unaccompanied to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited, abused, and sex trafficked," McLaughlin wrote.
"Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families."
Carvalho spoke with All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang to share his view of what happened.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Ailsa Chang: What is that protocol when schools get visits from immigration authorities?
Carvalho: When schools get visits from anyone asking information about our students, we follow the law. Number one, we follow federal law, the constitutional law that guarantees independently of immigration status a free public education to all students, no questions asked. That's under the Equal Protection Clause of our Constitution. Secondly, we are duty bound and legally bound to follow FERPA, which is the federal education privacy act that declares confidentiality associated with information specific to students or parents. And thirdly, and this is critically important, we follow in loco parentis, which means that in the absence of a guardian or a parent, school officials act as the parent protecting their interests and their rights.
Chang: I'm curious, how did the schools respond specifically in these two incidents?
Carvalho: So in these instances, when the agents approached school staff, principals politely asked them for identification, and that is part of the protocol. They presented badges after some degree of back and forth conversation as to why the need for I.D. verification. When the principals attempted to write the names of individuals and their I.D. numbers, they quickly pocketed their I.D.s, saying that that was not allowed. Secondly, part of the protocol is an immediate call to our legal department, as well as our operations, as well as our school board police department. Then we ask for a judicial warrant, which is the necessary paperwork, to have access to anyone within our school site. That is the equivalent of a criminal subpoena. If there is no judicial warrant appropriately signed by a judge, then we deny the request.
Chang: And to your knowledge, these individuals have not tried to contact the children directly.
Carvalho: To the best of our knowledge, that has not taken place. What I can tell you is this, that while at school, they did convey to the principals that they had authorization from the relatives of these children, from their parents to have access to them, which seems contradictory to the statement provided by the Department of Homeland Security after these actions, which basically conveyed that these were wellness checks based on the fact that these were unaccompanied minors.
Chang: Let me ask you about that specifically. The position of the Department of Homeland Security, because they have said that these agents were from, specifically, the Homeland Security Investigations Agency doing what they call wellness checks. And that quote, "this had nothing to do with immigration enforcement." Let me just ask you, Superintendent, are wellness checks by homeland security officers typical at elementary schools?
Carvalho: We have no evidence, nor do I have information of a wellness check conducted by the Department of Homeland Security having taken place in Los Angeles, not only this year, last year, or going back a number of years. Secondly, I've spoken with a number of colleagues across the country who lead large districts. They, too, have no evidence that these types of visits or checks have taken place.
Chang: So do you personally believe DHS' claim here that these were wellness checks?
Carvalho: What I do believe is this: I have heard repeatedly that a number of different federal agencies were collaborating with ICE in the enforcement of immigration law. I've also heard requests being made of local law enforcement entities to join in that process. So we have to accept at face value that this request for access was beyond the boundaries of what we legally would accept on the basis of existing federal law and the protections that must be afforded to our children specific to their privacy confidentiality. And by the way, how would you feel if you were a parent of a child in your school and somebody called you and said, "you know what? Homeland Security or the FBI or the Secret Service or ICE showed up at the school and we provided them direct access to your child." Even if your child was a native born American, you would be incensed. That is not the kind of thing that you expect would take place in any school.
Chang: Well, let's touch on what you said earlier. You said that Homeland Security officials said that they had contacted caretakers or parents of these children, that they were asking questions about. Have you been in touch with those parents or caretakers to confirm whether or not DHS officials contacted them?
Carvalho: Our school teams did, in fact, make contact with individuals who are the caretakers of these children, and they categorically denied extending permission to any entity, federal, state or local entity to have access to their kids in school. And that is why we categorically refute the agency's statement that this was nothing more than a wellness check.
Chang: Well, you have said that you would put your own job on the line for this cause. And judging from how the Trump administration has pressured institutions that oppose its policies, may I ask, what are you personally preparing for? How far will you go?
Carvalho: To the very end. I cannot renounce my own history, my own past. I cannot deny who I am or who I once was as I fulfill my responsibilities to date. So my fear certainly is beyond my position. My fear is for the well-being of our kids. My fear is that the repercussions, consequences may be applied to our district in terms of funding, Title 1 funding that our poor children depend on, IDA funding that students with disabilities depend on, Medicaid funding that supports the critically ill. And that would be an abomination – an abuse of power, and punishment against the weakest, most fragile and youngest in our country. So am I willing to incur and sustain personal consequence in my efforts to advocate and support hundreds of thousands of kids? Absolutely. That is a small price to pay, to honor, quite frankly, the Constitution that once I swore allegiance to and continue to do so.
This story was adapted for the web by Tyler Bartlam and edited by Mallory Yu.
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