Students withdraw as deportation fears reach Irving schools

Irving parents withdrawing kids, may keep them out

October 4, 2007
By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH / The Dallas Morning News
kunmuth@dallasnews.com

Immigrant parents who fear deportation are "on the run" and are withdrawing their children from public schools, Irving ISD Superintendent Jack Singley said Wednesday.

Mr. Singley estimated that 90 children have withdrawn from school in the last week because of the deportation fears in Irving, where a police program has prompted warnings by the Mexican Consulate. The superintendent hopes their parents will re-enroll them somewhere else.

"My concern is that some of them won't put those children in school anywhere because they're on the run," he said. "They get this notion that someone is going to actually come to school and snatch their children."

More than 33,000 students attend Irving public schools. Administrators fear that many more than just the 90 children who withdrew from school are frightened for themselves and their families.

District guidance counselors will meet on Friday to discuss what kind of plan, if any, they should develop to reassure students that they are safe at school regardless of their family's immigration status.

"We've had kids nervous about their parents being deported," said Jose Villaseñor, Irving ISD's director of responsive counseling. "The younger kids are nervous."

Recently, the Mexican Consulate began warning Mexican citizens to stay out of Irving because the city's Police Department has been working with federal immigration authorities to identify illegal immigrants who have been arrested and deport them. Irving police have turned over more than 1,600 people to immigration officials since the program began last year.

More than 1,000 protesters, most Hispanic, gathered outside Irving City Hall last week to raise concerns about racial profiling and about deportations separating families.

Irving Mayor Herbert Gears defended his city's policy Wednesday.

"If they're not being booked into our jail, there's nothing they should be worried about," he said.

He said parents need not fear that immigration officials or police will pick up their children from school campuses.

"Hopefully, people aren't making the wrong choice about whether or not to live in Irving," he said.

Many people in Irving support the City Council's immigration policy, Mr. Gears said. Many of them believe illegal immigrants overburden social services and overcrowd public schools.

The school district had a peak enrollment Sept. 25 of 33,189 students – up only slightly from last year.

Last year about 66 percent of students were Latino and 36 percent had limited English skills – the highest percentage of any school district in North Texas.

Mr. Singley said he does not know how many illegal immigrant children attend Irving schools. School districts typically don't ask the immigration status of their students. Public schools are required to provide a free education to illegal immigrant children.

Mr. Singley raised his concerns at the mayor's human relations advisory committee meeting on Tuesday. He and other community leaders discussed what sort of action plan might help those affected by deportations.

"There are children left behind, and there are families that have been traumatically affected by the deportation of a family member," committee Chairman Rene Castilla said. "What is the role of the community?"

Many of the children are American-born citizens and need psychological help, he said.

Pedro Portillo, pastor of Santa Maria de Guadalupe Lutheran Church, said a parishioner with school-age children has told him she would move out of Irving because her husband was deported.

Mr. Gears plans to visit Nimitz High School today to speak with the Latinos Stand Up club, a student group dedicated to improving the education of Hispanic students.

Club sponsor and Spanish teacher Netanya Even said it's important for students to stay informed, know their rights and help dispel rumors.

"Obviously they're concerned about the welfare of their families, but there are larger social issues, too," Ms. Even said. "Some of them are concerned about racial profiling, feeling frustrated and asking, 'Why are we a group that's not wanted?' They feel resentful."

Nimitz senior Abigail Carranza, 17, an American citizen, said she's also afraid.

"I don't like driving anymore because I don't want them to pull me over," she said. "We're all scared that they're pulling over anyone that's a little darker."