NYCPS Must Revise Protocols Regarding ICE

☎️ Back to School Call-in Campaign ☎️

ICE Out of NYC Schools Update: 

On June 4th, Hands Off NYC Families, NYIC, the UFT and several other partners organized a rally to call on New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) to create clear protocols for how to respond when ICE is around school communities, and to mandate training for educators and staff to put those plans into action. 

At this rally, we delivered our petition to representatives from NYCPS who thanked us for our advocacy and agreed that they would get to work on these protocols right away. It has been two months since our rally and NYCPS has yet to release any updated guidance. 

During this time, we have also seen an increase in ICE activity in our city, the termination of TPS for New Yorkers from many countries and changes to the public charge rule which may mean that New Yorkers will have a harder time accessing food, housing and medical care. As back-to-school is rapidly approaching there is no time to waste- we need NYCPS to take a stand to protect our students and families NOW! 

Let’s turn up the heat 🔥and flood 🌊the phonelines: 

Over the next three weeks, we (students, families, educators and community members) will flood the lines in a ✉️ email and ☎️ call-in campaign to: 

  1. Email Ailish Brady, Senior Advisor for Education and Sadye Campoamor, Chief of External Affairs and Project Open Arms:
    ABrady@cityhall.nyc.gov, scampoamor3@schools.nyc.gov, openarms@schools.nyc.gov

  2. Call or email your district superintendent (phone/email directory can be found here- just scroll down).

If you’d like, you can use this guide:  

  • Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a [student, parent, educator, community member] in district [#].

  • I’m writing/ calling to urge NYCPS to better protect our immigrant students and their families. NYCPS must:

    • Update school protocols regarding ICE 

    • Provide mandatory training for school staff, CEC board members, and PTAs/PAs

    • Increase legal and mental health support for students and families

    • Commit to doing all you can protect our students and families who have lost TPS or stand to lose benefits due to the changes to public charge

    • [You can share a personal story here about why this matters to you]

  • We must take these actions NOW so that we are ready on the first day of school.

Please share this action widely! 

Thank you all for your continued advocacy!