Schools Must be Safe Places for Students and Families
January 21, 2025 | Written By: Healthy Schools Campaign
Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) is committed to supporting the health and wellness of students attending public schools. As the new administration makes the deportation of immigrants a central focus, HSC is committed to supporting immigrant, refugee and migrant communities, and stands against allowing schools to serve as sites for deportation activities.
Mass deportations will traumatize students, families and communities, and the threatened new practice of using schools as sites for deportation will severely harm the mental wellbeing of students and everyone in the school community.
Intentionally making schools unsafe places for students and families will have a devastating impact on the trusting relationships between school staff and families – a key component of a healthy school environment. This practice will negatively impact student attendance as families are afraid of sending their children to school, and it will exacerbate chronic absenteeism, an already persistent problem in schools across the country.
In Chicago, where HSC was founded, we have a dynamic base of parents and caregivers, many of whom are immigrants, who work tirelessly to support students, schools and communities. Their work has led to significant improvements to the school system that benefit all families.
We stand in solidarity with Chicago families and all immigrant communities in the U.S., and denounce plans to focus mass deportation activities in Chicago in the first week of this new administration.
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