More San Diego schools are joining the effort to protect undocumented students who in some cases, according to school officials, are already suffering stress and finding it hard to concentrate in class due to fear of being detained for deportation on their way to school or even removed from inside a classroom. 

It hasn’t only been universities, such as UCSD, who have joined the struggle, but also community college districts and the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), the second-largest basic education district in California. 

The situation is similar in most of these schools: although they have not officially been declared sanctuaries, they do refuse to give federal agencies information about students, and seek to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers as far away as possible from their campuses. 

In San Ysidro, less than a mile away from the border with Mexico, these approaches are already a reality for community college students, many of them immigrants or permanent residents, who cross from Mexico to San Diego in constant fear of losing their rights in the U.S.

“The Southwestern College Board of Directors passed three resolutions to protect students and make clear that at our college, we will preserve a safe and comfortable environment for all students, regardless of race, religious belief, immigration status, or sexual orientation,” shared Southwestern College Board of Directors member Roberto Alcantar.

Alcantar also said that part of the Board of Directors was in Washington, D.C., on a trip to advocate for students before the Department of Education and members of Congress, looking for alternatives to grant their students protection. 

At Southwestern College’s other campuses in Chula Vista, Otay Mesa,  and National City, security personnel was given strict directives to not cooperate with ICE and, if information is required, to go directly to the courts in order to ensure that no raids take place at their facilities and students can focus on their studies. 

This has been a joint effort by school directors, superintendents, school board members, and boards of directors aimed at having fewer students discriminated against based on their origin or beliefs. 

The Unified School District has similar protocols; in a letter sent to U.S. Resident and immigrant parents, they stated that they would not allow access to ICE agents, and that the rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) would be protected. FERPA makes it a punishable act to disclose student files without a parent’s consent. 

Southwestern College asks students/parents who have any questions to contact the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at (619) 482-6504, where they can be fully informed of their rights within educational facilities.