At 7:45 a.m. this past Wednesday, Genaro C., an undocumented parent in City Heights, was taking his children to school when masked, armed men approached his vehicle. Eyewitnesses say that the ICE agents then forcefully removed Genero from the car in front of his 5-year-old and 11-year-old, cuffed his hands painfully, and shuttled him into an ICE vehicle. According to NBC San Diego 7, Genaro has no criminal history, and his asylum case is pending in court. Today, he is in a detention center away from his children who now fear leaving their home for school. This detention does not make our city safer. Instead, it instills fear in our diverse San Diego communities, and makes parents question whether sending their children to school is worth the risk.
DSA San Diego is organizing schools locally to make it safer for all students and their families, including immigrants, to learn. As the first part of our 2025 Migrant Rights Campaign, members voted to focus on pressuring local school districts to adopt strong know your rights programs to defend against ICE raids in public schools. As an exemplar, the San Diego Unified School District has implemented robust guidelines on protecting students, teachers, and parents and stands by California’s state laws limiting ICE cooperation.
Not all school districts are as committed as SDUSD in ensuring that educators, staff, and parents have all of the resources they need to defend their students’ right to learn. With an initial focus on the Cajon Valley School District, DSA San Diego is planning to partner with community members in demanding that their school board defend its constituents regardless of their citizenship status. A conducive learning environment relies on trust and safety. Collaborating with ICE betrays community trust and threatens the ability of schools to educate.
To get involved in our Migrant Rights Campaign, please sign up here and a member will connect with you soon.
