Safeguarding Oregon Schools: A Toolkit for Schools and School Districts to Protect School Communities Threatened with Immigration Enforcement

The Trump administration has promised the mass deportation and mass incarceration of immigrants—an agenda that could devastate school communities by separating children from their caregivers. By immediately rescinding the government’s sensitive locations policy, the administration has also opened the door to allow immigration arrests and otherwise enforce immigration law at schools, a move that has already made many community members afraid to send their kids to school.

Innovation Law Lab has prepared this toolkit for the Oregon For All coalition to help staff, administrators, and school districts to safeguard Oregon schools so that all students feel safe and welcome to pursue the education that they deserve. Instead of allowing a climate of fear to take over, schools must continue their critical work to create diverse, inclusive places where everyone can feel safe and have the space to grow and learn.

Additional helpful resources, including many of the resources cited in the toolkit, are available here. We also recommend the national resources provided by the National Education Association.

If you have questions about this guide, please contact Tess Hellgren, Director of Legal Advocacy at Innovation Law Lab, tess@innovationlawlab.org, or Isa Peña, Director of Strategy at Innovation Law Lab, isa@innovationlawlab.org.

For more information about Oregon For All, please contact the Oregon For All Coalition Manager, Ellie Gluhosky, at elliegluhosky@pcun.org.

This toolkit is intended as a starting point to provide general information useful to Oregon schools; it does not provide legal advice.