Join GR Rapid Response to ICE in urging the GRPS School Board to pass a Sanctuary Schools resolution, which would require the school district to not only protect our students from any ICE action on school property and events, but to also work with community partners to provide resources, training, and support when ICE violence is encountered, up to and including possible deportation.

Why:

• Both the past and the incoming administrations have targeted our immigrant neighbors using different strategies and tactics, but immigrant justice workers expect increased levels of ICE violence starting with the new administration.

• Children cannot learn and thrive unless they have a safe and welcoming school environment. If children are afraid that they, their family members, or their classmates will be deported, they will not be able to focus in school, or they will skip school.

• This has a ripple effect. If one child feels unsafe or threatened, others will feel unsafe and threatened too. This is especially true for younger children. Most younger children do not know their immigration status, and if their classmates are scared, they will be scared too. You can’t target one child without targeting all children in the classroom. Thus, you can’t protect one child without committing to protect all children.

• For teachers to fulfill their mission of educating all kids, the classroom must be a nurturing and safe space. Teachers cannot fulfill their mission if their students are afraid or if the environment is hostile. A safe zone resolution helps ensure that teachers can focus on their mission of educating instead of managing fear and its ripple effects among their students.

• We all are connected, and we live and study together in the same communities and classrooms. Anything that harms one person is going to harm all of us — and will interfere with our progress.

• To establish a safe learning environment for all children, the school district must commit the material and psychological support necessary for their well-being. It should act to ensure that children and their families have access to resources that can inform and help protect them. This includes public support for driver’s licenses for immigrants so that parents can transport children to school and extracurricular activities.

• Children are already concerned that immigration authorities may come to get them or their family members. The school district can and should take steps to assure children that their school is a safe place, that their information is confidential, and that the school will support them and their families to the best of their ability.

What Could the Sanctuary District Resolution Look Like?

• First the Grand Rapids Public School board would pass a resolution to be a Sanctuary School District.

• The GRPS board would issue a press release and public statement stating that in order to keep students safe, Grand Rapids Schools will not be cooperating with ICE, and they will work closely with community partners to provide resources, training, and support for any GRPS families who are being targeted by ICE or have been affected by detention or deportation.

• The resolution would include public support to reinstate making Driver’s Licenses available to undocumented folks who meet the requirements, so that parents can safely transport their children to school and to school events.

• Teachers and staff in schools would be trained on various methods to keep ICE out of schools: this may include:

• Training staff on the importance of not putting children or families at risk by unnecessarily asking or sharing their immigration status.

• Posting signs on school doors that state the school is a sanctuary safe space and “ICE is not welcome here.”

• Training staff how to intervene if ICE is present, and to reach out to groups like Rapid Response to ICE to intervene to keep students and families safe, as well as other community partners.

• Hosting information and resource sessions with community partners that center the needs of affected families, educate the community on policies and strategies that keep students safe, and allow input and conversation about the ways that ICE violence affects the entire community.

Want to Do More?

• First, send your email to the GRPS Board and Superintendent. Then see the Sanctuary School Toolkit at tinyurl.com/SafeZoneToolkit

• Email or Follow GR Rapid Response to ICE to get involved in trainings, mutual aid, and more initiatives to make our communities safer from ICE violence. info@grrapidresponsetoice.org / @RapidResponseGR on Facebook / @grrapidresponse on Instagram.