Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Board trustees will not explicitly support federal immigration officers after students walked out of campuses last week to protest widespread deportation efforts.
At the same time, trustees moved forward with a policy that bars staff from letting immigration officers in non-public areas of schools and buses without a judicial warrant.
On Tuesday, a controversial resolution proposed by Trustee Leandra Blades that would have voiced support for federal immigration officers and other law enforcement was heavily cut down by her colleagues to simply state support for law enforcement that works with the district.
[Read: Local Orange County School District Considers Supporting ICE]
Trustee Tricia Quintero successfully called on board members to strike out parts of Blades’ resolution in support of law enforcement Tuesday, offering an amended version that doesn’t reference immigration officers.
It also cut parts of the resolution that stated classrooms are not for political activism but education and the board would reject “fear-mongering or politicization of public safety issues.”
Blades initially pushed back on the revisions arguing Quintero’s amended version was not agendized for discussion and also claimed teachers are bringing political agendas into the classroom.
“What has happened here is she’s taken my resolution and basically allowing teachers now to pass out the anti-ICE cards and to pass out how to evade law enforcement,” Blades said at the meeting.
Quintero shot back.
“Those are not anti-ICE cards. They’re constitutional rights that every person in this country has that are being passed along,” she said, adding that the district typically deals with local law enforcement.
The cards in question are often called red cards, which contain a basic overview of Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights – like not speaking with federal immigration officers and not allowing them into homes without a judicial warrant.
An attorney for the district said board members could amend Blades’ resolution and ultimately, board members unanimously approved an amended version of her proposal.
Blades and the board have faced scrutiny in the past for banning critical race theory, adopting a parent notification policy and for deciding what books get piloted in the classroom instead of a literature review committee sparking concerns from parents about potential book bans.
In 2022, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said Blades violated California’s open meeting law over an unscheduled discussion about allowing mesh masks on campuses.
On Tuesday, officials also voted unanimously to move forward with a policy to prevent immigration officers from entering non-public areas of their campuses or accessing student records without a judicial warrant, judicial subpoena or court order.
The policy stems from a new state law approved last year that requires school districts adopt policies responding to immigration enforcement by March 1 this year.
It comes on the heels of a series of protests and school walk outs this year across Orange County including at El Dorado and Valencia High School on Friday against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
[Read: Students Walk Out Across Orange County Protesting ICE Raids]
For about an hour, dozens of parents, educators, alumni and students spoke out at Tuesday’s meeting against allowing ICE agents on campus and urged board members to reject Blades’ proposed resolution supporting immigration officers.
One Valencia High School student said students are not dangerous criminals and the resolution was political.
“We are good people. We are children and we are members of society. We are hard working. We care about our education. We care about our future and the future of our nation,” the student said.
“Clearly, Leandra Blades doesn’t agree with that. This resolution isn’t to protect education, our safety or our lives. This resolution is offered and proposed to support the MAGA and white supremacist agenda and implement it into our schools.”
Ben Stubbs, a parent, said he supported Blades original resolution arguing that there needs to be respect for the rule of law.
“Across the country, we see public officials, even governors, questioning whether certain federal officers are legitimate law enforcement. We’ve seen very young students led into public protests opposing police,” he said.
“Parents deserve to know our district will not pick and choose which laws or officers it respects.”
Blades said her resolution wasn’t only about supporting ICE,but other law enforcement agencies as well and how to address if they came onto a campus.
She also criticized the district for not correcting what she said was misinformation circulating about a student being detained by ICE.
“Everyone has come up here and only referenced ICE, but this policy and the resolution talks about local, state and federal law enforcement,” she said. “ICE is not coming onto our campuses. Federal law enforcement is not coming onto our campuses.”
Trustee Marilyn Anderson said ICE has been in the community.
“These students have seen it in their neighborhoods. They have seen it in their community, and they’ve actually witnessed that. It might not have happened in their school, but it has happened in their neighborhoods,” she said.
Blades questioned if Anderson was against law enforcement.
“If ICE is in the community enforcing the law are you against that?” she said. “You don’t want to answer that Marilyn?
Anderson said Blades was downplaying the fear in the community of the deportation raids.
“It is a reality to many of the families in our community,” Anderson said
“We have seen students not coming to school. We have seen parent participation drop in certain parts of our communities. These things are real and you can’t just pretend that it doesn’t happen because ICE hasn’t been on campus,” Anderson said.
Anderson later said her husband was an Anaheim police officer for 30 years and that she worked at a police department where she spent a lot of time with immigrants afraid to report crimes because of their immigration status.
District officials said publicly there have not been any cases of ICE detaining or deporting anyone on campus – but it could happen.
“There’s no way to say it won’t happen tomorrow. We can’t say that,” said Superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza.
Districts across Orange County have been preparing for that scenario – brushing up and updating protocols for staff on what to do if ICE agents show up on campus after deportation raids ramped up across the region last year.
[Read: Orange County Schools Prep for ICE]
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District’s proposed immigration policy – sparked by state law – would prohibit staff from allowing immigration agents to enter a school bus or a nonpublic area of a school without a judicial warrant or court order.
It also bars staff from collecting immigration status from students and sharing information about students or employees with immigration officers without a judicial warrant or court order.
Under the proposed policy, staff couldn’t physically obstruct or impede agents who enter the area nonetheless without the warrant – something district officials and a lawyer representing the district said was necessary to keep staff members safe.
Board members including Anderson questioned if that section of the policy needed to be clarified or amended.
Meanwhile, one El Dorado High School student said Blades shouldn’t be on the school board.
“I shouldn’t fear a Federal officer ripping me away from my family in an environment where I’m supposed to get an education. I want Leandra Blades out,” the student said.
“If that’s someone you want working for your district, you can count me and many other students transferring because I shouldn’t be scared that I will not make it home to my mother’s arms.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.