Things That Matter

LAUSD Just Made It Harder For ICE To Walk Onto Their School Campuses

By May 11, 2017 at 4:21 pm
Prayitno / Flickr / @ICEgov / Twitter

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted unanimously this week to guarantee sanctuary for their students while in class. The Washington Post reports that the Los Angeles School Board voted unanimously to pass a resolution that will make it harder for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrest students and their parents while on school property. The decision has been greeted with cheers of joy and cries of anger.

This week, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) took a strong stand against ICE agents having access to children while at school.


Federal immigration agents will now need to seek the approval from the superintendent of schools and district attorneys before being allowed onto any campus that is part of the LAUSD network, according to the resolution that was passed unanimously.

“Whereas, ICE’s longstanding policy states that it will not conduct immigration enforcement activity at any sensitive location, which includes schools, without special permission by specific federal law enforcement officials, unless exigent circumstances exist,” reads part of the resolution. “Whereas, no written state or federal law mandates that local school districts assist ICE in the enforcement of immigration laws. Whereas, the district has been a leader in championing the rights of all students to receive a public education regardless of immigration status and has passed various resolutions including the February 2016 resolution LAUSD Campuses as Safe Zones and Resource Centers, which declared that every district site will be a place of support and resources for all students and families.”

There are people who are very happy that LAUSD took this stand against easy cooperation with immigration law enforcement.


“This resolution makes me even prouder to be part of the L.A. Unified family,” Board President Steve Zimmer said in a statement according to LAist. “Today, we send a clear message to the White House: We will not cooperate with any form of immigration enforcement actions of this administration. But, we send a clearer message to our L.A. Unified students and families: Every L.A. Unified school is safe for every child and every family. We stand with you and we stand with your dreams.”

And some people see the move as a blatant slap in the face to federal immigration agents and deportation efforts.


An ICE detention made national headlines earlier this year. Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez, a father of 4, was apprehended by federal immigration officials while taking his daughters to school. According to The Washington Post, this arrest is part of what prompted LAUSD to take a stronger stance in protecting the students and parents that use their schools.

A few people were asking if “Hollywood liberals” would be rushing their children into the same “sanctuary” schools.


But many students, teachers, and parents are celebrating the resolution that had unanimous support from the Los Angeles School Board.


“This is an important opportunity for LAUSD to be a model for the state and for the nation,” Sylvia Torres-GuillĂ©n, the director of education equity for ACLU of California, told LA Times.

Many are arguing that the move is necessary to keep the kids focused on their education instead of staying safe.


And many are just happy to hear the the second largest school system in the country is taking the steps necessary to create a safe environment for children.

You can read the full resolution here.


READ: He Was Taking His Children To School When ICE Stopped And Arrested Him Half A Mile From His Daughter’s School

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Here Are The Executive Actions That President Biden Is Signing His First Day In Office

Things That Matter

Here Are The Executive Actions That President Biden Is Signing His First Day In Office

By January 20, 2021 at 1:49 pm
BY  | January 20, 2021 AT 1:49 pm
Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool / Getty Images

President Joe Biden has a lot of work ahead of him and he is hitting the ground running. On his first day in office, President Biden has a series of executive actions he is signing to reverse a lot of the damage created by the Trump administration. Here are some of the things President Biden will do with these actions.

The border wall on the southern border is done, y’all.

President Biden is saving the taxpayers billions of dollars by halting the construction of President Trump’s border wall. The border wall is one of former President Trump’s several unfulfilled promises at the expense of the taxpayers.

Despite his unrelenting campaign, Mexico never paid a dime to the wall. President Biden’s action to halt the border wall is a humanitarian and conservationist move that will save billions of tax dollars. According to estimates, there would be $3.3 billion in unused funds in the projects accounts.

The emotionally devastating Muslim ban will finally come to an end.

Former President Trump famously put an end to travel from predominantly Muslim countries. The order arbitrarily excluded a group of people based on their religion. The order that has kept families apart for years is finally coming to an end thanks to President Biden.

President Biden’s ation will bring families together and safeguards the rights of religious freedom. The ban has kept spouses separated, children apart from parents, and caused real damage. There is more to be done to make up for the stain on American history and the action is the first step.

The Keystone XL Pipeline is toast.

We all remember the terrifying scenes of Native people being brutalized by federal officials under Trump’s command. President Biden will make sure that the permit for the pipeline is revoked and put an end to a project that has been devastating the Native community. Activists have been fighting for years to get this done.

Undocumented people will have to be included in census counts.

President Biden is getting rid of the Trump administration’s terrible policy of ignoring undocumented people in the census. There have been several arguments by officials that the move would work to undermine certain states. The policy would take federal money away from states that did not support the former president and have high undocumented populations.

President Biden is going to preserve DACA.

More than 600,000 people benefit from the Obama-era program. Former President Trump waged a war against DACA and Dreamers for political points. Most Americans support DACA and a pathway to citizenship for DACA beneficiaries. With the new executive action, President Biden will instruct the federal government to restore the program to its fullest.

There is still a lawsuit the Biden administration will have to fight. The lawsuit challenging DACA’s legality was filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In total, President Biden will sign 17 executive actions that will roll back several issues created by the previous administration.

“Today, hours after taking the oath of office, President-elect Biden will take a historic number of actions to deliver immediate relief for families across America that are struggling in the face of converging crises. He will sign a combination of executive orders, memoranda, directives, and letters to take initial steps to address these crises, including by changing the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing economic relief, tackling climate change, and advancing racial equity,” reads a statement from the Biden-Harris Transition Team. “President-elect Biden will take action â€” not just to reverse the gravest damages of the Trump administration — but also to start moving our country forward. These actions are bold, begin the work of following through on President-elect Biden’s promises to the American people, and, importantly, fall within the constitutional role for the president.”

READ: President Joe Biden’s And Vice President Kamala Harris’ Inauguration Represented America

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Google Is Pledging $250K To Help With DACA Applications And Renewals

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Google Is Pledging $250K To Help With DACA Applications And Renewals

By January 14, 2021 at 7:33 pm
BY  | January 14, 2021 AT 7:33 pm
SANDY HUFFAKER / AFP via Getty Images

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is not a contentious topic among Americans. The program offers young adults who entered the U.S. as children relief from deportation and a chance to live out of the shadows. Now that it has been reinstated, Google wants to help some people achieve the dream of being a DACA recipient.

Google is pledging a quarter of a million dollars to help people apply for DACA.

The Trump administration did everything in their power to end DACA. The constant uncertainty has left hundreds of thousands of young people in limbo. The war waged against Dreamers by the Trump administration came to a temporary end when a federal judge ruled that Chad Wolf was illegally installed as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. It invalidated a member from Wolf stating that no new DACA applications would be approved.

Kent Walker, the SVP of Global Affairs, laid out the case for DACA in an essay.

Walker discusses the uncertainty the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients currently face after the tumultuous time for the program. He also touches on the economic hardships that has befallen so many because of the pandemic. With so many people out of work, some Dreamers do not have the money to apply or renew their DACA due to a lack of financial resources. For that reason, Google is getting involved.

“We want to do our part, so Google.org is making a $250,000 grant to United We Dream to cover the DACA application fees of over 500 Dreamers,” writes Walker. “This grant builds on over $35 million in support that Google.org and Google employees have contributed over the years to support immigrants and refugees worldwide, including more than $1 million from Googlers and Google.org specifically supporting DACA and domestic immigration efforts through employee giving campaigns led by HOLA (Google’s Latino Employee Resource Group).”

People are celebrating Google for their decision but are calling on Congress to do more.

Congress will ultimately have to decide on what to do for the Dreamers. There has been growing pressure from both sides of the aisle calling on Congress to work towards granting them citizenship. DACA is a risk of being dismantled at any moment. It is up to Congress to come through and deliver a bill to fix the issue once and for all.

“We know this is only a temporary solution. We need legislation that not only protects Dreamers, but also delivers other much-needed reforms,” writes Walker. “We will support efforts by the new Congress and incoming Administration to pass comprehensive immigration reform that improves employment-based visa programs that enhance American competitiveness, gives greater assurance to immigrant workers and employers, and promotes better and more humane immigration processing and border security practices.”

READ: New DACA Applications Were Processed At The End Of 2020 For The First Time In Years

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