Detention of undocumented immigrants leads to drop in Central CA school attendance

Thursday, January 16, 2025 5:49PM PT
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Border Patrol agents recently detained 78 people in Fresno and Kern counties.

The agency says they were targeting criminals involved in drug and human trafficking.

However, the American Civil Liberties Union says they believe the number of those detained is nearly double that reported by the government, closer to 190.

The operation has spread fear among undocumented immigrants.

"Having our parents deported and dealing with these immigration issues is a real trauma," Fresno County Board of Education Trustee Itzi Robles said.



The enforcement is also impacting school attendance.

"We are starting to see some students not show up," Central Unified Trustee Nabil Kherfan said. "We are doing everything we can to let parents know that school is safe."

Several education leaders and non-profits came together Thursday to address the concerns of many in the immigrant community, searching for answers.

"Fear of driving a person to appointments, clients requesting paperwork to be mailed off instead of picked up. Fear of attending a court hearing," Centro La Familia Executive Director Margarita Rocha said.

Robles says families need to know that students are safe at school. She shared her own experience as a child when her father was deported after a traffic stop.



"The one place that I always remember felt safe was school, going to school was where I was happy," Robles said.

She remembers the support she felt from teachers and reminds parents that their students are safe on campus.

"Officers cannot enter a school without a warrant signed by a judge,"

Action News reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who sent the following statement:

"The U.S. Border Patrol conducts targeted enforcement arrests of individuals involved in smuggling throughout our areas of operation as part of our efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations."

Education leaders want to remind everyone to ensure your child's school always has an emergency contact in case something happens and you cannot pick up your child.

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