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Milwaukee Public School Board To Vote On Making District A ‘Safe Haven’

Milwaukee Could Become State's First Safe Haven District For Immigrant Students

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Students in the hallway
LM Otero/AP Photo

The Milwaukee Public School Board will vote on a resolution Thursday night that would make the district a “safe haven” for students and their families in the country illegally.

The resolution, authored by MPS Board Vice President Larry Miller and director Tatiana Joseph, would prohibit MPS officials from asking students to provide documentation regarding their immigration status and from disclosing the status of students’ family members.

Miller said the idea for the resolution came following the presidential election, when students arrived at school afraid they would be deported.

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“We want students and their families to know that we will do everything within our power to protect our students and their families,” Miller said.

The resolution, in part, reads:

Milwaukee Public Schools believes that it is in the best interests of the students, staff, families, and the community of Milwaukee Public Schools that it take action to assure all students and families that disruptions to the educational environment that the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may create will be opposed by all legal means available

The resolution also creates protocols for when federal ICE agents or immigration authorities enter one of the district’s schools; prohibits district employees, contractors and volunteers from using district resources in facilitating the arrest of people in the country illegally; and designates a staff member at each school to work with immigrant students and their families

Youth Empowered in the Struggle, an immigrant, student and worker’s rights advocacy group, would like to see MPS staff trained to specifically handle immigration issues, said Cendi Tena of the group.

“Other staff may know students and the school setting, but they don’t understand what’s happening at home,” Tena said. “They don’t understand how a deportation or even just a journey of coming to this country, how traumatizing it is.”

Constantly worrying if you’re going to be safe at school takes away from learning, she said.

“How can you concentrate in school?” she said. “How are you going to think about preparing for an exam when you’re worried that one day when you come home, your parents aren’t going to be there?”

If passed, MPS would become Wisconsin’s first safe haven school district. Miller says the resolution would be effective immediately although it will take some time to implement certain policy.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is seeking federal immigration enforcement authority for his officers and hasn’t responded to a request for comment.

Editor’s Note: This story was last updated at 4:09 p.m. Thursday, March 30 to include comments from Larry Miller.