On Monday, January 28th, PICC joined the Latino Community Center in Pittsburgh, PA to give a presentation to Pittsburgh Public Schools law enforcement and security about immigrant students in the public school systems and the added risks of potential police/ICE collaboration.Throughout the country, there are more than 17,000 school resource officers (SRO), sworn law enforcement tasked to prevent crime, respond to emergency situations and educate youth about safety, on K-12 campuses. However, with the increased presence of law enforcement in public schools, there is also an increase of the school-to-prison pipeline of mostly black and brown students, into the juvenile justice system through punitive discipline practices on minor school infractions. For immigrant students and especially undocumented students, increased interaction with law enforcement in schools contributes to the school-to-deportation pipeline. Minor infractions and citations in schools could lead to long-lasting consequences such as losing employment opportunities, not being able to qualify for public housing, college opportunities. In the case of immigrant students, this can affect their immigration status, such as their ability to apply for immigration status or citizenship, and in the case of adult convictions may completely bar them from being eligible to get immigration status or cause them to lose their legal status and be deported. We know that the fight for safe and welcoming schools for our immigrant students does not stop with ensuring that police does not collaborate with ICE. It is ending the school-to-prison pipeline for black and brown youth, and it is ending the school-to-deportation pipeline for immigrant youth. As schools work to keep ICE off their campuses, they should also ensure that their disciplinary polices are not sending students to ICE. In the coming months, PICC hopes to work with education justice and immigrant justice groups across Pennsylvania to open up this dialogue in ensuring that schools are safe for all our youth, regardless of immigration status. If you would like PICC to come to present at your school, please fill out our speaker request form! |