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Recently, President Trump announced that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is empowered to enter "sensitive locations" such as schools and churches, while searching for illegal immigrants. This has created an extremely complicated new problem for school administrators and transportation directors.
How do you comply with the law, while still doing your best to ensure student safety on your buses?
This is a complicated, evolving situation, and most aspects of these new raids have not been litigated yet. We can't offer precise legal guidance, but we do have some suggestions for how to get prepared for potential ICE raids on buses.
Preparing For ICE In Schools
1 - Understand students' rights
Under law and per the Constitution, all people on American soil have the same legal rights to due process. The Bill Of Rights protects non-citizens as well as citizens. This includes right to a trial, right to an attorney, etc. Also, under the Supreme Court case Plyler v Doe, all children in a district have a right to public education, regardless of their immigration status.
2 - Administrative warrants are NOT judicial warrants
Per the ACLU, only judicial warrants, originating in a court and with a judge's signature, allow ICE agents to forcibly enter private property - including schools or school buses. At present, it appears you can legally refuse entry if ICE only has an administrative warrant. However, a judicial warrant specifying a particular student by name must be respected.
3 - In general, drivers should refuse entry
If a bus is stopped by ICE and does not have a judicial warrant specifying a student by name, the best thing the driver can usually do is refuse entry and immediately call the office for assistance.
4 - Have a designated legal point of contact
In consultation with your lawyers, there should be a specific person who is empowered to handle requests from ICE or any other law enforcement. This person should be used as the main point of contact whenever situations like this arise.
5 - Be sure your drivers are documented
We know it's tough finding drivers, but make sure everyone driving is 100% legal. Otherwise you could end up with a bus full of kids, and no driver.
BusBoss will be following this closely, and posting advice as new details or court cases emerge. Until then, please contact us if you have concerns about protecting student safety in these uncertain times.
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