ICE officers tried to enter two LAUSD elementary schools on April 7 to allegedly conduct “wellness checks” on students who arrived at the border alone. They were prevented from entering by the school’s administrators.
Nadine Staine, a second grade LAUSD elementary school teacher, has felt anger, fear and disbelief going through her mind ever since. Staine said she was appalled, telling Annenberg Media, “This is not the America that I thought it would be.”
As chairwoman of United Teachers Los Angeles, Staine is a prominent voice in the local teaching community. She said she believes the best way to protect her students is by informing them and their neighbors.
Staine predicts that students in schools will probably start seeing their peers disappear from classes, but she wants to keep students informed and updated. She encourages open conversations and class essays written by students to keep them aware of the political climate surrounding immigration and deportation under President Trump’s second administration.
The classrooms have also begun practicing drills like being silent, turning off the lights and pulling down the shades.
“Unfortunately, this is the time we live in,” Staine said.
Staine questions how schools can be a place that is supposed to be a safe haven to learn and grow.
“They’ve come to destroy. They’ve come to dismantle,” she said. “They don’t want to see anyone that’s not ‘like them’ get anything. So they’ve come to dismantle it all.”
Staine said this new era reminds her of a dark time, parallel to what was happening in history back in Germany.
“I am floored by the people doing nothing,” Staine said. “I’ve always thought that this president reminds me of so many things so parallel to Hitler.”
Staine, who has been an educator for over 17 years, said the school is very vigilant about keeping the doors locked now. The school has installed a buzz-in gate in the past seven months, preventing any outsider from coming in.
Margarita Artavia, a professor of social work practicum education at USC, has been teaching for over 30 years, and said children have already undergone so much adversity and uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic. The ICE incident has posed an additional toll on their mental health.
“Mental health is not just about the mind. It’s about everything and impact,” Artavia said. “It’s an integration of many systems, not just the minds and the emotions and spirituality and our humanity.”
Not only will this have an effect on school systems, she said, but parents will be too fearful to bring themselves or their children to see doctors, get vaccinated or go to the dentist.
“It’s a domino effect that impacts all systems,” Artavia said.
Artavia also said she is determined to use her voice and inspire others to stand up and advocate for the children.
“We will protect our kids. We will educate our kids. We will inspire our kids,” she said. “We will not allow abuse and intimidation of our children or our workforce. Schools are places for learning. Schools are places for understanding. Schools are places for instruction. Schools are not places of fear.”