Spokane School District Bans Border Agents From Schools

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in a file photo. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Spokane school district in Washington state voted unanimously on March 7 to ban U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents from entering schools after opponents argued that their presence could have traumatic impacts on Latino or immigrant students.

According to The Spokesman-Review, the unanimous decision reaffirmed a pre-existing policy preventing border patrol agents from entering school buildings unless the superintendent says otherwise.

However, the decision added specific language to the existing policy to clarify this.

“It’s to clarify and make it just very clear that Border Patrol should not be in our schools,” the board’s president, Nikki Otero Lockwood, said at an earlier meeting before the vote, according to the publication.

The decision followed a review by the board of a 780-signature petition in support of banning the agency from public schools, led by “Latinos En Spokane,” an advocacy group that supports the Latino community.

While Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol are not allowed to conduct enforcement actions at schools, as outlined by Department of Homeland Security regulations, Latinos En Spokane and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU) had reportedly raised concerns about a reading program in another Washington school, Holmes Elementary, in which CBP agents had attended for readings with children following permission from the superintendent.

‘Stressful Situation’

Latinos En Spokane had argued that allowing CBP agents on Spokane school campuses under any circumstances would be traumatizing for Latino or immigrant students. They pointed to “the tone set by presidential candidates in these past few weeks,” including campaigns they said are “led with hate, fear-mongering, and anti-immigrant rhetoric.”

In a statement to the Spokane Review, Jennyfer Mesa, executive director of Latinos In Spokane, said students “could be targeted as immigrants, because they have an accent.”

Such students could also be placed in a “stressful situation” when asked questions about their parents, Ms. Mesa said.

“These fears, these stressors create post-traumatic stress disorder in students and families who have had the experience, whether it’s a family separation or concerns about another member of the family,” she continued. “Especially having an agent at your safe space, schools are safe spaces for students and families. This is where we come to learn.”

Elsewhere during the March 7 vote, the school board approved futher new additions to the previous policy, including language stating that staff will not “collaborate with immigration enforcement agencies or share information that could put a student’s security at risk.”

CBP Responds

The newly revised policy also bans border agents from attending classrooms as guest speakers, according to reports.

Responding to the decision to bar CBP agents from Spokane School campuses, Chief Patrol Agent Lloyd Easterling of the Spokane Sector for the U.S. Border Patrol said it was “unfortunate.”

Customs and Border Protection officers finish a training exercise on the halfway point of the international bridge between the United States and Mexico, in Eagle Pass, Texas, on April 19, 2022. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

“It is unfortunate that the Spokane Public Schools Board has taken this stance against Customs and Border Protection,” Mr, Easterling wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “When agents and officers attend events at schools they are merely there for educational purposes, at the invitation of the school, and not to conduct immigration enforcement activities.”

Mr. Easterling noted that CBP personnel attend “countless events” at schools throughout the nation “without controversy” and create a safer school environment.

“CBP personnel work tirelessly day in and day out to protect our nation from a variety of threats to include terrorists and dangerous narcotics. CBP routinely honors requests from local law enforcement agencies to assist in life-threatening situations, including active shooter incidents at schools,” he said. “Our officers and agents are active members of their communities and have children who attend the local schools. The fact the school board has taken this position of intolerance against a law enforcement agency is disheartening and makes the community less safe.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the Spokane School District and the ACLU of Washington for comment.