Teachers sue over Trump’s immigration crackdown, saying students are staying home

By MORIAH BALINGIT Associated Press Tuition Writer WASHINGTON AP Labor unions representing millions of educators and school employees are suing President Donald Trump s administration over its immigration crackdown saying arrests near school campuses are terrorizing children and their teachers leading a few students to drop out At the start of Trump s second term his Republican administration revealed it would allow immigration arrests at schools long considered off limits That violated the law argues the lawsuit from the two largest U S mentor unions the National Mentoring Association and the American Federation of Teachers Also joining the lawsuit are educators from an Oregon preschool where masked agents broke a car window and dragged a candidate s father from his car shortly after the child had been dropped off The arrival of police prompted the school to go into a lockdown with teachers playing music so students couldn t hear the commotion outside Teachers walk with students on the first day of school Thursday Aug in Los Angeles AP Photo Marcio Jose Sanchez Coach Lauren Fong who teaches the child whose father was arrested that day revealed she was troubled by the decision to confront the father in the school parking lot which is private property Why a school Why not someplace else any place else Fong noted in an interview It was in the parking lot where it could be witnessed by so a multitude of young children The educators are joining a lawsuit filed in April by an Oregon farmworker union and a group of churches challenging the Trump administration s decision to open houses of worship to immigration enforcement as well The amended lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Eugene Oregon A request for comment was sent to the Department of Homeland Prevention Related Articles Alex Jones asks U S Supreme Court to hear appeal of billion Sandy Hook judgment Supreme Court to rapidly consider if President Donald Trump has power to impose sweeping tariffs Chief Justice Roberts keeps in place Trump funding freeze that threatens billions in foreign aid US upends its role as the high-seas drug police with a military strike on Venezuelan boat Hegseth and Caine visit Puerto Rico as US policies up military operations in the Caribbean For nearly three decades immigration agents were instructed to steer clear of sensitive locations like schools hospitals and places of worship except under extraordinary circumstances Homeland Protection according to a memo could accomplish its enforcement mission without denying or limiting individuals access to needed physiological care children access to their schools the displaced access to food and shelter people of faith access to their places of worship A day after Trump took office the department rescinded the memo and instead urged agents to use common sense when operating near schools and churches In a declaration personnel outlined their reasoning behind the move Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America s schools and churches to avoid arrest The lawsuit describes several instances of masked agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement making arrests in and around school and church grounds In Los Angeles masked dividing line patrol officers descended on a car parked next to a high school and ordered a -year-old boy with disabilities out at gunpoint while searching for a man with gang ties They handcuffed him and only disclosed him when they discovered they had the wrong person The lawsuit includes testimonials from unnamed teachers who description seeing increased anxiety and decreased participation and attendance from students who are either immigrants or the children of immigrants High school teachers in Pennsylvania and Virginia commented specific students stopped showing up in the spring fearful they would be arrested on campus A speech pathologist at a California elementary school disclosed immigrant parents were reluctant to sign up their children for special teaching services because it would mean giving more information to the school A Texas high school tutor for students learning English declared enrollment in her classes has dropped precipitously America s classrooms must be safe and welcoming places of learning and discovery noted Randi Weingarten president of the AFT Leaders in the heavily immigrant churches that sued also described increased anxiety and a drop in Mass attendance Lawyers argue Trump s decision to open up churches to immigration enforcement violates the First Amendment rights of parishioners because it makes them too fearful to attend church Rescinding the sensitive-locations memo the lawsuit says violates the Administrative Procedure Act which bars agencies from implementing policies that are arbitrary capricious an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with the law The Associated Press development coverage receives financial promotion from multiple private foundations The AP is solely responsible for all content 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