Modesto City Schools updating policy on immigration enforcement. What changes?
Modesto City Schools is updating its policy on immigration enforcement following federal and state changes in what locations ICE officers can access. The Board of Education on Tuesday night approved its first reading of the policy.
In January 2025, the Trump administration revoked an Obama-era policy that restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from accessing sensitive locations like school sites and places of worship.
In response, California passed its own legislation prohibiting ICE access to school sites unless officers present “valid judicial warrant, judicial subpoena, or a court order,” per Assembly Bill 49.
The law also prohibits schools from sharing student records unless presented with a judicial warrant or court order. It requires school personnel to request identification from immigration enforcement officers attempting to access a school site. Existing laws prevent public schools from collecting data on the immigration status of students and families.
The district’s updated policy takes into account the legislative changes. It mandates that school staff not collect information relating to citizenship status, seek records concerning immigration status, or disclose educational records or personal information to immigration enforcement without a parent’s consent, unless required by a judicial warrant or court order.
It states that staff are not to allow officers to enter school-centric and nonpublic spaces like a school bus, unless mandated by a judicial warrant or court order. But it also states staff shall not impede an ICE officer in that circumstance. The policy mandates that the superintendent report requests from immigration enforcement to the Board of Education.
The policy will be up for a second reading at a future Board of Education meeting.
