Boston Public Schools sued over secrecy surrounding student information sharing with ICE

The Boston Globe reports:

Several civil rights and student advocacy organizations, alarmed that a school incident report helped lead to a student’s deportation, filed a lawsuit Thursday against Superintendent Tommy Chang after Boston school officials repeatedly refused to disclose how often they give student information to federal immigration authorities.

The groups, which include the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, have tried unsuccessfully for several months to find out how frequently the school system shares student information with federal authorities, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.


“As federal deportation efforts intensify, the question of how and under what circumstances public schools are providing information to the US Department of Homeland Security [and] Immigration and Customs Enforcement has become even more crucial,” the suit said. “The threats to students and their families are real.”

School officials declined to comment on the merits of the case Thursday afternoon.



“Neither the City of Boston nor Boston Public Schools have been served with the lawsuit,” Dan O’Brien, a school spokesman, said in a statement. “Boston Public Schools will review the lawsuit once it is received.”

The school system’s apparent refusal to share information about the practice comes after Chang and Mayor Martin J. Walsh have repeatedly attempted to reassure students in public statements and visits to schools after President Trump’s election that all students and their families would be welcome in the school system regardless of their immigration status.

School systems under federal law are barred from asking students about their immigration status and in most cases are supposed to keep personal information about students confidential. Chang has said the school system would never share student information, even with law enforcement, unless required by a court order.

What kind of immigration system prevents government schools from asking if someone is a U.S. citizen????