This is not a surprise....
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Oakland schools to defend students here illegally
Resolution forbids immigration officers on campus without lawyers being called first

By Katy Murphy, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 01/10/2008 08:20:54 AM PST


OAKLAND — The Oakland school board on Wednesday night took a stand in support of its immigrant students, including those whose families are living in the country illegally.
The policy passed at the board meeting — the first of its kind in the Oakland school district — was written in response to an incident at Melrose Bridges Academy, an elementary school in East Oakland. On the morning of Dec. 18, immigration officers accompanied a pregnant mother, Maria Ramirez, into the school and detained her for questioning after her tearful 6-year-old daughter went to class.

Noel Gallo, the school board member who introduced the resolution, said he hoped the new policy would assure Oakland's immigrant population that the district was committed to educating all of its students.

He also said he hoped it would prevent such events from happening again.

"I'm trying to establish a good relationship with local law enforcement," Gallo said. "I'm also appealing to them to not conduct their business at a school site unless there's an imminent danger."

The policy forbids school staff to ask about a student's immigration status or to require families to provide a Social Security number during registration. It also directs schools to contact the district's legal counsel before allowing immigration officers to enter a school, on the grounds that such a visit would cause a disruption to the educational environment.

Because the district does not collect information which would reveal students' immigration status, the number of undocumented children attending Oakland schools is unknown.

Moyra Contreras, principal of the predominately Latino Melrose Leadership Academy, the sister middle school of Melrose Bridges, said she was encouraged by Gallo's resolution, and that she hoped Oakland city officials would take a similar stance.

"I think it's very important that the school district take a position on this," Contreras said. "Families need to feel safe coming to school and sending their children to school."

Parents and staff at Melrose Bridges Academy and at Melrose Leadership Academy were shaken by what unfolded that rainy December morning. Contreras and others said they feared attendance and school participation would suffer as a result.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the agents accompanied Ramirez into the school to make sure her daughter arrived safely to her classroom.

Kice said Ramirez was questioned about her husband's small business, Pepe's Cabinets, and was released hours later. Ramirez's husband, Jose De Jesus Guzman-Baez, faces federal criminal charges of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants for his business. Both parents face deportation.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/ ... ci_7930996