PHOENIX — After weeks of requests from schools, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes released guidance to schools on how to handle situations if officers enforcing immigration laws come to their campuses.
It’s been a confusing few weeks for some school leaders after President Donald Trump and his administration got rid of a longstanding practice of avoiding immigration enforcement in places considered sensitive such as churches and schools.
In early March, Mayes created a “Resources for Schools” website with a letter attached, giving guidance to schools but says it is “neither legal advice nor a formal legal opinion.”
In Mayes’ letter, she said she is addressing a frequent question of “whether school officials must allow officers enforcing immigration law to enter nonpublic areas of school campuses.” Most of her answers to that, she says in her letter, is “no.”
She continued to say that federal immigration enforcement officers usually perform their duties through “administrative arrest warrants” which are issued by the Department of Homeland Security. Mayes makes a distinction between administrative warrants versus judicial warrants and court orders, which the two latter need to be complied with.
“However, a DHS-issued administrative arrest warrant does not require a school to grant access to nonpublic areas of school campuses. This is based on longstanding federal policy and law, and is consistent with guidance issued by many other states,” she said in her letter.
Mayes advises schools to plan for how to respond in the event federal immigration officers execute their work on school campuses.
“Confusion itself can cause great harm—leading to fear and changes in behavior, such as not attending school. Schools can take immediate steps to alleviate that confusion by communicating clear policies to students and parents,” Mayes said.
ABC15 has reported on several school districts and school boards passing policies and resolutions that reaffirm their commitment to student safety and privacy.
Valley schools such as Phoenix Union High School District, Washington Elementary School District, Tempe Union High School District, Cartwright Elementary School District and more have passed measures through their governing boards and call themselves “safe” and “inclusive places and environments.
Several other districts, like Osborn School District, are considering similar measures and are going through the process of amending board policies to include immigration language.
