Thread: Irving, TX: Students Withdrawl as Deportation Fears

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 7c0bd.html


Students withdraw as deportation fears reach Irving schools

Irving parents withdrawing kids, may keep them out

11:27 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 3, 2007
By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH / The Dallas Morning News
kunmuth@dallasnews.com

Immigrant parents who fear deportation are "on the run" and are withdrawing their children from public schools, Irving ISD Superintendent Jack Singley said Wednesday.

Mr. Singley estimated that 90 children have withdrawn from school in the last week because of the deportation fears in Irving, where a police program has prompted warnings by the Mexican Consulate. The superintendent hopes their parents will re-enroll them somewhere else.

"My concern is that some of them won't put those children in school anywhere because they're on the run," he said. "They get this notion that someone is going to actually come to school and snatch their children."

More than 33,000 students attend Irving public schools. Administrators fear that many more than just the 90 children who withdrew from school are frightened for themselves and their families.

District guidance counselors will meet on Friday to discuss what kind of plan, if any, they should develop to reassure students that they are safe at school regardless of their family's immigration status.

"We've had kids nervous about their parents being deported," said Jose Villaseñor, Irving ISD's director of responsive counseling. "The younger kids are nervous."

Recently, the Mexican Consulate began warning Mexican citizens to stay out of Irving because the city's Police Department has been working with federal immigration authorities to identify illegal immigrants who have been arrested and deport them. Irving police have turned over more than 1,600 people to immigration officials since the program began last year.

More than 1,000 protesters, most Hispanic, gathered outside Irving City Hall last week to raise concerns about racial profiling and about deportations separating families.

Irving Mayor Herbert Gears defended his city's policy Wednesday.

"If they're not being booked into our jail, there's nothing they should be worried about," he said.

He said parents need not fear that immigration officials or police will pick up their children from school campuses.

"Hopefully, people aren't making the wrong choice about whether or not to live in Irving," he said.

Many people in Irving support the City Council's immigration policy, Mr. Gears said. Many of them believe illegal immigrants overburden social services and overcrowd public schools.

The school district had a peak enrollment Sept. 25 of 33,189 students – up only slightly from last year.

Last year about 66 percent of students were Latino and 36 percent had limited English skills – the highest percentage of any school district in North Texas.

Mr. Singley said he does not know how many illegal immigrant children attend Irving schools. School districts typically don't ask the immigration status of their students. Public schools are required to provide a free education to illegal immigrant children.

Mr. Singley raised his concerns at the mayor's human relations advisory committee meeting on Tuesday. He and other community leaders discussed what sort of action plan might help those affected by deportations.

"There are children left behind, and there are families that have been traumatically affected by the deportation of a family member," committee Chairman Rene Castilla said. "What is the role of the community?"

Many of the children are American-born citizens and need psychological help, he said.

Pedro Portillo, pastor of Santa Maria de Guadalupe Lutheran Church, said a parishioner with school-age children has told him she would move out of Irving because her husband was deported.

Mr. Gears plans to visit Nimitz High School today to speak with the Latinos Stand Up club, a student group dedicated to improving the education of Hispanic students.

Club sponsor and Spanish teacher Netanya Even said it's important for students to stay informed, know their rights and help dispel rumors.

"Obviously they're concerned about the welfare of their families, but there are larger social issues, too," Ms. Even said. "Some of them are concerned about racial profiling, feeling frustrated and asking, 'Why are we a group that's not wanted?' They feel resentful."

Nimitz senior Abigail Carranza, 17, an American citizen, said she's also afraid.

"I don't like driving anymore because I don't want them to pull me over," she said. "We're all scared that they're pulling over anyone that's a little darker."

"My concern is that some of them won't put those children in school anywhere because they're on the run," he said. "They get this notion that someone is going to actually come to school and snatch their children."

in all honesty... don't they actually do that?


well... I guess they won't be needing the DREAM act now.


now can Mexico beef up it's education system please?

There again, its poor latin children. Blame their parents for getting them into this. I guess, in fairness, they didn't think it would ever come to this. FINALLY

Last year about 66 percent of students were Latino and 36 percent had limited English skills

So does that mean 36 percent were the children of illegals? more than half of the "Latino" whole percentage.

Mr. Singley estimated that 90 children have withdrawn from school in the last week because of the deportation fears in Irving, where a police program has prompted warnings by the Mexican Consulate

In a district of 33,189 students only 90 were "afraid to go to school". Hey, another 10,000 would have made me even happier.

Oh, bull! These kids are taken out of school to go to Mexico for Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation. I mean the whole time Thanksgiving through Christmas. Nobody hollers about that.

Deportation Fears Prompt Exodus From Texas City's Schools

Irving, Texas, one of the larger suburbs of Dallas with an estimated population of around 200,000, is best known as the location of Texas Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. It is an ethnically diverse city where about one-third of the population is of Hispanic origin. Last year about 66 percent of Irving's public school students were Hispanic and 36 percent had limited English skills — the highest percentage of any school district in North Texas.

Irving was in the news this week because of apparent fallout stemming from the Irving Police Department's policy, begun last year, of cooperating with federal immigration authorities to identify illegal immigrants who have been arrested, and turn that information over to immigration authorities so deportation proceedings can be initiated. The Mexican Consulate recently began warning Mexican citizens to stay out of Irving because the city's police department has been cooperating with federal immigration authorities to identify illegal immigrants who have been arrested so they can be deported. Irving police have turned over more than 1,600 people to immigration officials since the program began.

In an October 3 interview with the Dallas Morning News, Irving Mayor Herbert Gears defended the fairness of his city's policy, stating: "If they're not being booked into our jail, there's nothing they should be worried about."

Mayor Gears assured parents that they need not fear that immigration officials or police would pick up their children from school campuses. Nevertheless, he stated that many Irving residents support the City Council's immigration policy, because illegal immigrants overburden social services and overcrowd public schools.

In public statements made during the mayor's human relations advisory committee meeting on October 2, Superintendent Singley seemed more concerned about the plight of illegal immigrants than about the plight of Irving's taxpayers, who must pay the bill to educate the children of those who have no legal right to be in this country. (Perhaps the educational budget is determined by total school enrollment — legal or illegal.) The Morning News article reported that Mr. Singley said he does not know how many illegal immigrant children attend Irving schools, adding that school districts usually do not verify the immigration status of their students and that public schools are required to provide a "free" education to illegal immigrant children.

We wonder if Irving taxpayers, when reviewing the portion of their property tax bill allocated for the Irving ISD, regard so-called public education as "free."

There are two equally important, though separate, issues coming into play in this story that are worthy of comment.

The first is the injustice of forcing taxpaying, law-abiding U.S. citizens to bear the oppressive burden of financing the education — and other social services — provided to thousands of illegal immigrants who legally have no right to be in this country. One might as well require homeowners to feed, clothe, and educate the children of burglars breaking into their homes.

The second issue is not as often discussed, because public education has been institutionalized in our nation for so long that most people regard it as a right. Public education, as the term is usually used in this country, is a misnomer, however. In the United Kingdom, where more precise English prevails, "public schools" (e.g., Eton) are independent schools generally open to any fee-paying member of the public. In Britain, the more accurate terms "state school" and "county school" are used for schools provided at public expense.

Americans who are critical of the so-called public education system generally prefer the term "government schools" to refer to those institutions supported by the taxpayers through local property taxes, and subsidized by federal education funds.

Whatever they are called, however, public schools are the result of a concept of state-controlled education imported from socialist Prussia by 19th century "progressive" educators such as Horace Mann. They are politically, intellectually, and morally dangerous — and financially unjust.

Politically, intellectually, and morally dangerous, because, by placing control of the curriculum under authority of the state, they give the state the power to determine what children shall be taught, including what moral values should be imparted.

Financially unjust, because they force taxpayers who have no need for public education (the childless, and those whose children have grown), as well as those who choose alternate education for their children (in religious schools, or by homeschooling) to shoulder a responsibility that rightfully belongs to the parents of the children being educated.

In Irving, Texas, today, we see the convergence of two bad ideas (poor federal immigration enforcement and coercive public education), and one good solution. The city's policy of cooperating in the deportation of illegal immigrants is the correct one.

http://www.jbs.org/node/5885

What a scum bag country to have as a neighbor. The Mexican consulate
tells Mexican citizens to stay out of a city because they are enforcing
US law? If Americans cannot see the absurdity in this & get really angry,
we are doomed.

It is an ethnically diverse city where about one-third of the population is of Hispanic origin. Last year about 66 percent of Irving's public school students were Hispanic and 36 percent had limited English skills — the highest percentage of any school district in North Texas.

Guess it is true that they are trying to breed us into a minority. A third of the population produces two thirds of the students?

Originally Posted by kniggit

It is an ethnically diverse city where about one-third of the population is of Hispanic origin. Last year about 66 percent of Irving's public school students were Hispanic and 36 percent had limited English skills — the highest percentage of any school district in North Texas.

Guess it is true that they are trying to breed us into a minority. A third of the population produces two thirds of the students?

You are mighty astute kniggit to pick up on that. It went completely over my head.

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