Anti-ICE protesters overwhelmed a Southern California meeting of school officials who proposed a measure showing support for law enforcement.
The opposition came as Orange County’s Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District held a public session to vote on the education board’s proposal, which “affirms its support for local law enforcement officers and federal immigration officers who carry out their duties professionally and lawfully.”
“This resolution isn’t to protect education, our safety or our lives,” one speaker said at the meeting. “This resolution is offered and proposed to support the MAGA and white supremacist agenda and implement it into our schools.”
“The community is not going to tolerate pro-ICE propaganda in our community,” added Bethany Anderson, who runs a legal clinic for immigrants in Placentia, in an interview with ABC 7.
School Board Trustee Leandra Blades, who proposed the resolution, said she felt the outrage grew out of angry residents focusing solely on immigration enforcement.
“Everyone has come up here and only referenced ICE, but this policy and the resolution talks about local, state and federal law enforcement,” she said.
Board members went on to change the resolution’s wording, pulling specific mentions of immigration officers.
Blades raged at the changes, saying that a fellow board member struck it down while “allowing teachers now to pass out the anti-ICE cards” explaining “how to evade law enforcement.
That board member, Tricia Quintero, shot back, saying the card contain “constitutional rights that every person in this country has.”
The proposal ultimately passed by a vote of 5-0, but members will take it up again at their meeting next month to clarify details.
The public blow-up comes after students in Orange County schools walked out of class last week to protest immigration enforcement efforts.
