{"id":496961,"date":"2026-10-15T13:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/496961\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T13:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:17:12","slug":"san-francisco-educators-accompany-immigrant-families-to-ice-check-ins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/496961\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco educators accompany immigrant families to ICE check-ins"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a recent Thursday, Carolina woke to loud, high-pitched electronic beeps from the bulky wrist monitor the federal government makes her to wear.<\/p>\n

The nerves set in. That morning, she had two immigration appointments in downtown San Francisco. The only saving grace: Ernesto Rodriguez, a social worker at her son\u2019s elementary school in the Portola neighborhood. He was set to accompany her to the check-ins, as he has for about 10 other families from his school.<\/p>\n

For at least 50 immigrant families in San Francisco facing immigration appointments or court hearings, public school teachers and staff have become a lifeline.<\/p>\n

Educators in 20 schools in the district have been trained to accompany students and families to immigration appointments as part of a collaboration between the school district, a nonprofit and the teachers\u2019 union.<\/p>\n

Missing a single appointment can mean a deportation order. For families too frightened to show up to a federal building alone, the presence of a familiar face can mean the difference between staying in the country, and being forced out.<\/p>\n

Still, fear kicks in. \u201cI feel kind of strange \u2026 I feel bad, anxious, my back hurts,\u201d Carolina, a pseudonym, told Mission Local that morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She decided to keep her two sons, 6 and 14, home from school while she went downtown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rodriguez, who had planned to pick her up at the school, quickly changed course and went to her home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AErnesto Rodriguez, social worker at E.R. Taylor Elementary School, arrives at Carolina\u2019s house to drive her to her ICE check-in on Oct. 1, 2026. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

\"ACarolina wears a wrist monitor. Previously, she had to wear an ankle monitor. That day was the first time it made loud noises to remind her of her immigration appointments. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

\"AAnxiety sets in as Carolina arrives at her immigration check-in. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

The educator accompaniment program is a collaboration between the San Francisco Unified School District\u2019s RiseSF office, which supports immigrant families; the nonprofit Faith in Action<\/a>; and the teachers union<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If an appointment or court hearing results in an arrest, educators are trained to call the Rapid Response Hotline<\/a> to find a lawyer to file a habeas petition for the immigrant\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

And though volunteers across the country accompany immigrants to court and check-ins, the San Francisco program is the only known example of educators organized and trained to attend appointments with students and students\u2019 families. The teachers\u2019 union, for example, covers the cost of a substitute teacher for the time away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since January, 137 students and families in the San Francisco school system have been accompanied. None have been arrested so far.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The morning check-in with ICE<\/p>\n

After Carolina went downtown, she joined a line on the sidewalk outside 630 Sansome St.<\/a>, where dozens of immigrants waited, gripping folders with documents that could determine their future.<\/p>\n

Carolina trembled as she neared the front of the line outside the federal building where she was scheduled to complete her first appointment of the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SanThe scene at 630 Sansome St. shows a line of immigrants waiting their turn to be let inside the federal building. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

\"ACarolina hugs her documents as she waits to be let inside for her appointment. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

At the front, she said goodbye to Rodriguez, who would wait outside the building during her appointment, texting her sporadically to check in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy freedom has been stolen,\u201d Carolina said as she stepped inside the building, where she would go through security and into her appointment alone. The woman behind her, who spoke Cantonese, cried as she, too, entered the building.<\/p>\n

Fear of showing up<\/p>\n

Most days, at least one immigrant walks into 630 Sansome for an appointment only to be arrested and taken through a back exit to a detention center, according to volunteers and activists who camp out during the day in front of the building.<\/p>\n

But staying away from the building carries its own risk. One of the main ways the federal government deports people is by ordering them \u201cremoved in absentia<\/a>\u201d for missing a court hearing or appointment.<\/p>\n

Jenny Tseng, a social worker at Aptos Middle School, saw how close a family can come to that outcome. One morning, she was meant to meet two middle-school sisters at their school and take them to their immigration court hearing. It was too dangerous for their parents to chaperone them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like Carolina, the family never showed up to school that morning. Tseng, two school counselors, and a volunteer went into emergency mode, called the mother, convinced her to meet them at a cafe and then took the girls to the courthouse.<\/p>\n

In the end, the judge at San Francisco\u2019s immigration courthouse rescheduled the case. But had they not shown up, the sisters could have been ordered removed, opening them up to arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is how they win,\u201d Tseng said.<\/p>\n

\"ACarolina is visibly relieved as she reunites with Rodriguez after her immigration check-in. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

Carolina\u2019s first appointment that Thusday went smoothly.<\/p>\n

Afterward, her 6-year-old son called to ask if she was done and would be home soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m almost done, because now I have the check-in with the other immigration office,\u201d she told him in Spanish.<\/p>\n

He said he loved her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYo tambi\u00e9n te amo, papi,\u201d she said \u2014 I love you too, sweetie. She added, \u201cQue Dios te proteja.\u201d May God protect you.<\/p>\n

\"ACarolina takes a beat to talk to her son. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

Carolina\u2019s second appointment\u00a0<\/p>\n

And so it\u2019s on to the second appointment, a check-in at the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program on Tehama Street run by BI Incorporated, the private company contracted to provide ankle monitors<\/a> and other surveillance gear to track immigrants. <\/p>\n

Carolina reflected on the accompaniment program. \u201cThank God, along the way I found angels,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matt Alexander, co-director of Faith in Action and a San Francisco school board member,\u00a0said touch points between educators and immigrant families can also greatly improve how students fare at school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When he takes children to these appointments, he said, \u201cTheir whole body is tense \u2014 they\u2019re experiencing it as trauma. Once we leave and it\u2019s clear nobody\u2019s being detained or deported, and the case is moving forward, they\u2019re relieved, they\u2019re happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AAfter the check-in, Carolina gets a notification from her wrist monitor telling her to show her face as verification. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

A web of support\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Carolina initially had an issue with her asylum application but did not have a lawyer, Rodriguez the social worker pooled his money with Stefanie Eldred, another social worker at their school, to pay for a consultation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to do this shit to do it,\u201d said Rodriguez, whose mom is from Mexico. He said that in his family, supporting the community is a no-brainer. \u201c\u200b\u200bIt\u2019s something you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said he has accompanied around 10 parents of children from his school. He has also surveyed students to see who needs help connecting with immigration resources, and has found at least 30 such families at his school. <\/p>\n

At International High School in Potrero Hill, which has a large number of immigrant students, Antoine Lagarde, a senior seminar instructor, noticed two of his students were worried and asked them what was going on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two students, 16 and 17, confided that their sister, a Peruvian mother of two whom they live with, was having problems with her immigration case. She was terrified she would be arrested at an upcoming court hearing, and taken from the family.<\/p>\n

Lagarde, who also volunteers with Faith in Action, invited the sister to one of the group\u2019s meetings.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old mother was distraught. \u201cI was really worried, in a bad way. I didn\u2019t want to eat,\u201d she said in Spanish.<\/p>\n

The contact with the teacher and Faith in Action meant she went to court with an entourage: Lagarde, another teacher from International High School, a SFUSD-contracted attorney who was there to observe, a Catholic priest, and Alexander. In the end, the woman\u2019s hearing was rescheduled for next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey gave me the strength to face going to court,\u201d the woman said. The relationships between educators and families is \u201cbuilding a web of community support\u201d to counteract an immigration system that creates fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rodriguez, the social worker, recalled the moment when he got back to his school after a morning at an appointment with the mother of a second-grader. The mother had asked him to let her daughter know all had gone well<\/p>\n

He found the child on the playground and delivered the news.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe got so happy, it was as if someone said, \u2018It\u2019s your birthday,\u2019\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

He watched as she ran to tell her friend the news, and then grabbed her friend\u2019s hand to go play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the work that I love to do,\u201d Rodriguez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A ride home<\/p>\n

\"AAfter concluding both appointments, Carolina gets a ride home from Rodriguez. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

\"ARodriguez drives Carolina through downtown San Francisco. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n

The day\u2019s work with Carolina was done. As he got ready to drive her home, Rodriguez helped her log in to an SFUSD app where she could check her children\u2019s grades and message teachers. <\/p>\n

From the front seat of Rodriguez\u2019s car, she used her phone to log in to the online course she is taking through City College. \u201cShe felt good. It was really sweet to see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After dropping her off, Rodriguez felt relief. It had gone smoothly. He hopes to help more families. \u201cI really want to get the word out so newcomer families do not feel like they\u2019re alone,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not shying away from this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ARodriguez drops Carolina at her home, and she thanks him for his help. Photo by Zoe Malen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a recent Thursday, Carolina woke to loud, high-pitched electronic beeps from the bulky wrist monitor the federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[49838,2871,14,101,103,102,104,106,105,15254,5476],"class_list":["post-496961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-630-sansome","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-sfusd","tag-unions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}