San Diego's five school trustees will vote on a resolution that warns school kids and their families not to travel to or spend time in Arizona. That same policy has been approved by other governmental agencies in the past weeks. However, San Diego Unified could be the first large, urban school district in California to take a stand.
School board president Richard Barrera says it is the district's responsibility to protect all children, including students with parents who could be deported.
He says federal immigration policies have already hurt the children of undocumented parents in San Diego.
“Literally a student can go to school and come home and their parents are gone,” Barrera said. “We also know of cases where students are picked up and taken into Tijuana to a place they have never been.”
About 75 percent of San Diego school kids are members of racial minorities. Forty-four percent are Latino.
School board member John de Beck says taking a political stand on this issue won't do kids any good, but he wants the board to take a strong approach.
He's proposing the district back an immigration reform idea that would give undocumented parents a temporary visa until their U.S. born children are 18.
“I don't like to say we're against things. I would rather be for something, even if it is not popular,” de Beck said.
Denver has taken the strongest stance for a public school district in the U.S. Denver public school officials have banned any district-related travel to Arizona.
School officials say their bylaws allow them to take a stand on issues that directly affect the lives of their students.
