Weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a student near San Diego City College and pursued another person onto campus, the San Diego Community College District on Thursday began installing signs prohibiting immigration enforcement on its property.
The 18-by-30-inch signs were being installed at entry points to the district’s 10 campus locations.
“This property is owned by the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD). This property may only be used for purposes that have been authorized by SDCCD and may not be used for immigration enforcement staging areas, processing locations, or any related operations,” the signs read.
On Sept. 8 around 9:30 a.m., ICE agents in unmarked vehicles stopped a vehicle near the intersection of 16th and C streets, according to district officials. The driver, a City College student, was taken into custody, while the passenger fled onto City College’s campus.
District officials said the pursuing ICE agents “quickly stopped as they recognized they were entering a college campus. The agents went back to their vehicles and left.”
SDCCD officials said the signs have been in the works since the spring, but were accelerated after the Sept. 8 incident.
“College campuses are a place of learning and no one should have to be fearful about coming to work or attending class,” said SDCCD Chancellor Gregory Smith. “These signs make it abundantly clear that immigration enforcement is prohibited on SDCCD property.”
Santa Barbara City College installed similar signs last year after ICE used its campus as a staging site for immigration enforcement.
Since the Sept. 8 incident, the community college district has used text alerts as soon as federal immigration officials come onto campus. In addition, the district and its colleges have expanded counseling and legal support services for students and have raised funds to pay the legal bills of the student who was detained.
Going forward, Smith said the district will “advocate with its congressional representatives for legislation that would prevent immigration enforcement activity at education, medical and religious facilities, and other sensitive locations.”
The City College enforcement action, and a similar one in which ICE agents took two parents into custody while they were dropping off their child at John Marshall Elementary School in Chollas Creek, sparked backlash from local elected officials. San Diego’s four Democratic Congress members — Reps. Juan Vargas, Scott Peters, Sara Jacobs and Mike Levin — as well as California’s senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
“Parents should be able to drop their children off at school without fearing detention, and students should be able to attend class without encountering federal immigration enforcement around their campus,” read the letter. “Schools and institutions of higher education have long been places where students feel safe enough to learn, belong, and achieve their academic dreams without their lives being uprooted. Schools should not become the backdrop for immigration enforcement activity, nor should parents have to choose between bringing their children to school and fearing that they may be detained in the process.
ICE did not respond to requests for comment regarding the actions.
According to SDCCD, California law restricts federal immigration enforcement officers from entering nonpublic areas of school campuses, questioning students or accessing personal student and family data without a valid judicial warrant or court order. In addition, SDCCD policy prevents district employees from assisting federal immigration officials.