School districts across the country have begun directing students to organizations that offer legal aid to illegal aliens and excuse the absences of those attempting to avoid deportation in the wake of President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration enforcement operations, a Daily Wire investigation has found.
The districts laid out their policies and posted their resource lists after the Trump administration removed restrictions against federal immigration enforcement agents, who were previously barred from carrying out deportation operations at schools.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), one of the largest school districts in the country, launched its “We Are One” campaign to reaffirm the district’s opposition to deportation. “Per the November 2024 LA Unified Board Resolutions, the District is a ‘sanctuary district’ and safe zone for families threatened by immigration enforcement,” LAUSD’s site reads.
The district links to the “We Have Rights” video series, which it describes as “an empowerment campaign to prepare for and safely defend our rights during encounters with Immigration & Customs Enforcement.” The video series promoted by LAUSD encourages people to film Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests and to strategically release the footage through partnership with a lawyer, advocacy organization, or through the media.
LAUSD goes on to provide a link to “red cards,” printable documents that illegal aliens can keep on their person in the event that they come in contact with immigration enforcement officers. The cards, produced by the George Soros-funded Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), tell immigrants “DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR if an immigration agent is knocking on the door” and “DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS from an immigration agent if they try to talk to you.”
The district told The Daily Wire that it “is required to protect the legal rights of our students and employees and continues to adhere to all applicable federal and state laws.”
But LAUSD is far from the only school district that provides resources to those who might be subject to deportation.
Washington State’s Puyallup School District went a step further in an email reviewed by The Daily Wire, telling community members that illegal aliens are excused from school if they skip class due to immigration and deportation concerns.
“As a district committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all students, we reaffirm our dedication to protecting the rights of immigrant students and their families,” the email read. “We understand that absences may occur due to concerns about immigration status, and we classify these absences as excused under safety concerns.”
There’s also Cody High School of Detroit Public Schools Community District, which curated a list of resources for so-called “undocumented citizens,” including information about the “Undocufund,” which is described as a fund of “$750,000 for undocumented Detroiters who were excluded from stimulus payments authorized by the CARES Act.”
The first organization on the list is the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, which the school says provides emergency legal assistance to illegal aliens who are detained or are facing deportation.
Included on the resource list is Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan, which runs the La Casa Amiga Immigration Legal Clinic. The clinic offers assistance with a provisional waiver that is specifically designed for illegal aliens trying to gain legal status.
The school district’s site also lists Michigan United, a leftwing non-profit, as a resource. The organization’s legal clinic serves illegal aliens, particularly those who are attempting to avoid deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Detroit Public Schools Community District did not respond to a Daily Wire inquiry.
It isn’t just school districts in blue states that have voiced opposition to the enforcement of federal immigration law, however. An email obtained by The Daily Wire sent to families at West Des Moines Community Schools blamed the president’s immigration actions for causing “fear and harm.”
“We recognize that the recent Presidential Executive Orders have caused fear and harm for students, families, and staff,” the district’s superintendent and board of education president wrote in a January email. The district officials directed community members to various leftwing organizations, including the Diversity Services Center and the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, both of which offer legal assistance to migrants.
Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools similarly created a list of “resources for immigrant families,” directing community members to various legal resources that could be used by illegal aliens in an attempt to prevent deportation.
The district advertised the ILRC, which equips immigration lawyers to provide deportation defense for illegal aliens and secure protections for illegal aliens under DACA while also advocating for leftwing immigration policies.
The school district promoted another leftwing organization that encourages illegal aliens to call a rapid response hotline to report ICE activity. The district did not respond to a Daily Wire inquiry.
Colleges and universities are also helping illegal students avoid deportation. California’s Claremont McKenna College encouraged international students to return to the United States before Trump’s inauguration and even offered to connect illegal alien students with immigration lawyers for a free consultation, The Daily Wire revealed in December.
