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Students withdraw as deportation fears reach Irving schools

Irving parents withdrawing kids, may keep them out

12:43 PM CDT on Thursday, 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 Singley estimated that 90 children have withdrawn from school in the 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."


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