Title
Supporting the School District of Philadelphia's efforts to ensure our schools are safe havens for immigrant families by protecting students' learning environments from disruption by immigration enforcement actions and by safeguarding students' confidential information, and endorsing the District's proposed Welcoming Sanctuary Schools Resolution.
Body
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia is committed to providing a sanctuary of safety where all young people are able to focus on their education, secure in the knowledge that the City will support their safety and emotional well-being regardless of immigration status, national origin, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, religion or person's abilities; and
WHEREAS, Our City is stronger when all of us maintain our rights, and the City is committed to protecting students' federal and state constitutional rights including their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and their constitutional right to access a free public K-12 education. Philadelphia is a Welcoming City with an expressed public commitment to limit local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and
WHEREAS, In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v Doe that all students have a right to a free public K-12 education, regardless of their immigration status, and while Philadelphia has made a commitment to protect and secure a safe and dignified workplace for all regardless of immigration status, it has not yet promised the same environment for the hundreds of thousands of students of all races, ethnicities, national origins, and immigration statuses who attend schools in our City; and
WHEREAS, The Sensitive Locations ICE Memorandum issued on October 24, 2011 states that the agency will not conduct immigration enforcement activity at any sensitive location, which includes schools, unless exigent circumstances exist, or special permission by specific federal law enfor...
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