Local school district taking steps to protect undocumented students

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A local school district is taking steps to protect students who are undocumented.

According to a letter sent to the student's parents, officials with the the Phoenix Elementary School District #1 will not allow immigration officers on school grounds, without a warrant.

Sara Bresnahan with the school district outlined the steps.

"It's important that that person would go through the CEOs office," said Bresnahan. "We would work with our legal counsel to make sure the right legal documents were in order before someone was allowed to go on campus."

School officials said there was no changes made to their policy, but they heard there were some concerns of how things were, after Donald Trump became President. In response, the district wanted to reassure parents their children are safe at school.

The letter was sent out to parents on Monday, and was in English and Spanish. The letter was also sent out to members of staff, the Phoenix Police Department, and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

"We're just always trying to make sure our parents know, get your kids to school, don't keep them at home, they need to be in class being educated everyday," said Bresnahan . She said that schools are considered safe places, and that has not changed.

"We are not going to just let people on the campuses without very good reason, or without our legal counsel advising us," said Bresnahan.

Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said on its website that schools are sensitive locations, and their policies state that enforcement actions at schools should generally be avoided, and is only done with "prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official".

However, the same website also states that ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers may carry out enforcement actions at a sensitive location, without prior approval from a supervisor, if there is exigent circumstances related to national security, terrorism, or public safety, or where there is "an imminent risk of destruction of evidence material to an ongoing criminal case".