A timeline of GRPS stance on the threat of mass deportation, plus a powerful response from Denver Public Schools to Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE)

The Grand Rapids Public Schools has pretty much stuck to their initial response when it comes with policies regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) coming to schools within the District. Here is a link to what they send to faculty and parents regarding ICE.

The problem with this response is simply that it is a one-way street. What would it have looked like if the GRPS held a meeting, or meetings, in the community, particularly with communities that are high risk for arrest, detention and deportation? Holding listening session with the affected communities would have been a much better response, as opposed to the GRPS Administration thinking that they know what is best for immigrant communities who are facing the threat of mass deportation.

Around the same time that the GRPS sent out their own policy position on ICE, GR Rapid Response to ICE had created an Action Alert for people to sign, an Action Alert that had some demands and reasons for those demands, which you can read here.

I then wrote about the GRPS Board meeting that was held on January 13th, which had students, parents and community members calling for the District to adopt a Sanctuary policy. There was overwhelming support from the public.

GRIID has also been sharing toolkits on Sanctuary for Schools, in both English and Spanish, which are modeled after what schools in Detroit were doing. 

On January 27th, at the Grand Rapids School Board, there was additional discussion about a Sanctuary policy and some School Board members questioned why the Action Alerts that were being sent to School Board members were being suppressed, which I also wrote about.

GR Rapid Response to ICE sent a letter to the GRPS regarding the censured Action Alert messages the following week. GRPS School Board President Kim Davis responded in an Email, which you can read from the GR Rapid Response to ICE Facebook page here.

Last Monday, February 10th, the GRPS adopted the following resolution, which is posted here on the right. The GRPS School Board member who pushed for the GRPS to take a more robust stance on the threat of mass deportations, Jose Rodriguez, was the only GRPS School Board member to vote no on this resolution.

A Lake of Radical Imagination

As I stated earlier, GRPS making decisions without listening to input from communities at risk of mass deportation, normalizes a power dynamic that is one way, where the GRPS knows better on matters of immigration policy and the threat of mass deportation. 

However, not all schools are adopting superficial policies regarding how to deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Just last week, the Denver Public Schools (DPS), “sued the Trump administration in federal court, alleging “irreparable harm” from the repeal of a policy that put schools, churches and other sensitive locations off-limits for raids.” 

According to the Colorado Newsline, the DPS put out this statement:

“For decades, DPS, its students, and their families have relied on this Protected Areas Policy to provide education and services for their students,” says the district’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado against the Department of Homeland Security. 

The DPS went on to say, ““DPS has been forced to divert resources from its educational mission to prepare for immigration arrests on DPS school grounds,” says the lawsuit. “DPS has therefore spent significant time and resources implementing policies ensuring student safety and training staff and faculty to effectively respond to encounters with individuals claiming to be conducting immigration enforcement activities on school grounds.”

Lastly, according to the Colorado Newsline, “The district’s lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order barring DHS from “implementing, enforcing, or acting pursuant to” the new policy on protected areas. In a statement Wednesday, DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero said that the district was acting to ensure that schools can remain a safe place for all students and their families, regardless of their immigration status.”

Imagine if the Grand Rapids Public Schools had taken a similar stance as the Denver Public Schools. Imagine how the communities impacted by the threat of mass deportation would feel in Grand Rapids, if GRPS had taken this action. It seems clear that the Denver Public Schools are listening to affected communities on these urgent matters, instead of adopting tepid resolutions.