||| FROM KOMO-TV.COM |||
WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid last week in Langley nabbed the parent of a South Whidbey Island School District student, the district’s top leader confirmed.
The raid reportedly happened last Wednesday at a Langley laundromat and Second Street.
In a letter to the district’s community, District Superintendent Jo Moccia wrote, “It has come to our attention that one of our school parents has fallen victim to the immigration raids that have begun in our country. Our hearts go out to their spouse, children, and friends.”
Moccia offered district families a link to recent guidance from the Office of Public Instruction on Immigration Reform Assistance.
The guidance outlines requirements concerning student privacy, access to educational services, and immigration enforcement on school campuses. Requirements include enrolling all students regardless of immigration or citizenship status, ensuring undocumented students have access to all aspects of the regular school program, and having a policy for responding to immigration enforcement actions using the awareness that schools have no legal authority to enforce U.S. immigration laws.
“At South Whidbey, we will do everything we can to protect our students when they are at school, no matter their citizenship status,” wrote Moccia in the letter.
KOMO News reached out to the district, which said it cannot share any details about the age of the student or what school they attend in the district.
Moccia also confirmed the arrest did not happen on school grounds.
“[Wednesday’s] South Whidbey ICE pick up did NOT occur on our school campuses. It occurred on Second Street in Langley. It is our understanding that ICE officers are patrolling the area. You have rights under the U.S. Constitution,” Moccia wrote in a second email to the school district community the day after the arrest.
In an email responding to KOMO News, School Board President Brook Willeford said the community has rallied around those affected “beautifully,” and the school district is doing everything it legally can to protect their students.
“One fantastic thing that people can do to prepare themselves is to download and print out RED CARDS so that they know what their rights — and the rights of those around them — are,” Willeford wrote.
Red Cards, meant to be shared among communities, offer advice on how to deal with immigration raids and affirm constitutional rights. The cards tell the holder to not open the door, not answer any questions, and not sign anything during a raid. They also include a script informing the ICE agent that the holder is using their constitutional rights.
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