Board members of East Aurora School District 131 want to revisit a proposal that would see the district declared a safe zone for immigrant students and their families who may be worried about immigration enforcement that community groups put before the board in January.
The draft resolution calls for protection for all students as far as possible within the law, regardless of their legal status in the US. John Laesch, one of the members of the school board who asked for the discussion about the resolution on Monday, says students who feel safe will come to school, but that those afraid of encountering immigration officials at, or close to school, will stay at home.
Similar safe zone resolutions have been passed in the likes of Evanston Township High School District 202 or by the Oak Park and River Forest High School board. Guidelines were issued to principals by Chicago Public School officials in January 2017 to not allow federal immigration authorities into buildings belonging to the district unless they come with a criminal warrant.
The request for East Aurora to revisit the proposal comes in the wake of tension over the immigration policies of the federal government and worries over the actions taken by officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Fox Valley. The proposal would ban children from being asked about their immigration status or parents from having to display immigration documents and would also prevent district officials from identifying their status to ICE officers.