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CBS News Los Angeles (KCAL) is reporting today that "Department of Homeland Security agents were denied entry into two South Los Angeles elementary schools earlier this week, according to a district spokesperson."

Good. Obviously. Parents shouldn't have to send their kids to school wondering if ICE is going to follow their seven-year-old home to rat them out and arrest them. Worse, nobody should have to wonder if their kids are going to be detained by people like these thugs.

Tasty Tidbit: ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security, but "DHS agent" just sounded better, I guess. I guess they hoped somebody would let them in by mistake thinking it was a bomb threat?

I have written a lot of things about Alberto Carvalho and said a lot more and none of them have been good. This is a good thing he's doing. It goes beyond simply putting up a "We Are One" resource page on the website. It's the natural next step in a broad campaign to protect students and their families from the kind of immigration terrorism favored by the Trump administration.

LAUSD has been advocating for immigration reform for years, with the school board passing the 2013 "Urge Action for Comprehensive Immigration Reform from the 113th Congress resolution" and the 2014 "Keeping LAUSD Families Together resolution." In 2016 the board established schools as "Safe Zones" and included the following provisions: 

Resolved further, The Board declares that any school every site or office of Los Angeles Unified School District site is a safe place for all its students and their families and thatstudents and their families can come to any District school or office to seek help,assistance, information, shelter and safety if faced with fear and anxiety about from any and all non-criminally related immigration enforcement efforts;

Any request by ICE for data information or to visit access a school site shall be immediately forwarded to the Superintendent and General Counsel for review and a decision on whether to allow access to the site, and/or the information to ensure District compliance with Plyler and other applicable laws;

With the support of the mayor, the L.A. City Council officially expressed support for the LAUSD school board resolution and adopted it on March 1, 2016:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, with the concurrence of the Mayor, that by the adoption of this Resolution, the City of Los Angeles hereby includes in its 2015 - 2016 State Legislative Program support for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board Resolution (Mr. Zimmer, Dr. Rodriguez, Ms. Garcia) declaring LA Unified Campuses as Safe Zones and Resource Centers for Students and Families Threatened by Immigration Enforcement (Res-032-15/16), as further described in the text of this Resolution.

In 2017, the LAUSD school board passed a resolution reaffirming its "Safe Zones for Families Threatened by Immigration Enforcement" and strengthening its commitment to noncooperation with immigration officials by "District staff, faculty, employees, and campus police."

Last November, the board again reaffirmed the 2017 resolution and extended its concerns to Project 2025's impact on students and schools, declaring in particular

That the policy of Los Angeles Unified School District is the LA Unified 2025 vision, which stands in unity with all of the students, families, and staff in our school communities and embraces Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion throughout the District; 

LAUSD has a commendable history, at least recent history, of protecting our students and their families with respect to immigration status and federal immigration enforcement. In January they started handing out red "Know Your Rights" cards. There's that website. 

LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is saying all the right things and doing a very good thing as he and the District continue to meet the moment and support this mission. It's likely to get harder before it gets easier. 

When I was working I never had to face the kind of ICE thuggery my colleagues face today, but it would have been unthinkable to me or the people around me to cooperate in the detention of our students or their families. I hope it still is. 

 Thanks for coming. Speak to you soon.

P.S. It's not only Los Angeles. ICE is testing the limits. Chicago also had its day in January (although federal officials claimed the agents were actually Secret Service. Oh, you must mean a different Homeland Security. Sound familiar?). Can't blame people for being nervous when the officials in charge are saying things like this, from CNN:

Earlier this week, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman announced federal immigration authorities will be permitted to arrest people and carry out enforcement actions in and near places such as churches and schools, marking a departure from long-standing policy to avoid so-called sensitive areas.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the statement reads.

and this (also CNN), from the oblivious to irony, champion gaslighter Stephen Miller:

“There’s no sanctuary for criminal aliens in this country, nor is there a sanctuary for child trafficking, for child smuggling or for child endangerment,” Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller told Fox News Friday in response to reports ICE went to a the elementary school.

They are testing the limits. They are testing us. They will not stop. They must be stopped.