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English - (Navarro) - Sanctuary School District Project - March 2021: Home

 

Morton 201 Mission & Vision

Understanding the Sanctuary School Movement

What is a Sanctuary City?

Wisconsin Students Rally to Support Sanctuary Schools

Safe Zone School Districts - USA

What needs to take place in order for our district to become a SAFE ZONE?

From the National Education Association: "Your school board can take up a proposed resolution like the one attached here at its next regularly scheduled meeting. Just be sure the meeting notice requirements are met and that your school board has this sample language. Through its normal governance procedure, the board can approve and sign a SAFE ZONE resolution, including a policy that would then take effect immediately."

Click on the map below to see where school districts have passed or are considering Safe Zones policies to protect immigrant students. Then zoom in to view Chicago-area / suburban districts:

  • Oak Park - River Forest School District 
  • Oak Park Elementary School District 97
  • Proviso Township High Schools District 209
  • Berwyn South School District 100
  • Chicago Public Schools
  • Evanston Township High School
  • North Shore School District 112
  • Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50

 

School Safe Zone websites, articles, and documents:

  • WEBSITE:  Milwaukee Public Schools
  • WEBSITE:  Evanston/SkokieSchool District 65
  • ARTICLE:  Evanston School District 202 adopts 'haven' resolution for some immigrant students
  • ARTICLE:  Student-led campaign inspires school board to pass strong ‘Safe Zone’ resolution
  • ARTICLE:  Waukegan District 60 passes safe haven resolution aimed at reassuring immigrant students, families

Resolution Documents:

Local Policy Interventions for Protecting Immigrants

From the Immigrant Legal Resource Center:

  • Local elected officials have significant power to enact policies that protect their immigrant residents.
  • Usually it is the counties, not cities, that are the most important policy-makers in terms of establishing sanctuary policies. 
  • How widespread are these policies and what other things can be done to protect immigrants locally? 

Examples of such policies in the Local Policy Interventions for Protecting Immigrants document:

  • Don’t ask about immigration status or place of birth
  • Require consent forms 
  • No stops or arrests for immigration violations 
  • Accept many forms of identification as proof of identity
  • Prevent public employees from threatening people on the basis of immigration status or nationality 
  • Don’t contract with ICE or US Marshals to detain immigrants 

Mapping the Impact of Immigration on Public Schools

Mapping the Impact of Immigration on Public Schools: 

Cicero, Berwyn & Oak Park Townships

(Click on map to open interactive map; click on any area for specific data)

 

Cicero, Berwyn & Oak Park Townships Data

Cicero Demographics

Click on image below to access demographic information:

Click on image below to access demographic information:

Demographics:

Immigration Resources

Chicago’s history as a sanctuary city

Chicago’s days as a “sanctuary city” where undocumented people can access city services and live without fear of police harassment date back 35 years.

Illinois Sanctuary Cities and Counties

The State of Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago have been designated as Sanctuary jurisdictions: they "have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE — either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, denying ICE access to interview incarcerated aliens, or otherwise impeding communication or information exchanges between their personnel and federal immigration officers."

 

United States Sanctuary Cities - click to access the interactive map

January 9, 2017 (Center for Immigration Studies)

Updated Welcoming City Ordinance

Mayor Lori Lightfoot signs updated Welcoming City Ordinance, adding protections for undocumented residents (February 23, 2021)

Essential Vocabulary

Sanctuary city
A city whose municipal laws tend to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation or prosecution, despite federal immigration law.

Sanctuary district (other terms: "safe haven" and safe zone")
A school district that offers protections and creates a welcoming environment for students and families who are undocumented immigrants. Some districts opted for the labels “safe haven” or “safe zone” as a way to potentially avoid the Trump Administration’s threats against sanctuary jurisdictions.

Chicago's "Welcoming City" ordinance
Ordinance that protects the rights of immigrants, and grants all residents access to city services, regardless of immigration status

Citizenship or immigration status
All matters regarding questions of citizenship of the United States or any other country, the authority to reside in or otherwise be present in the United States

ICE
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency

Immigration detainer
A request by ICE to a federal, state or local law enforcement agency to provide notice of release or maintain custody of an individual based on an alleged violation of a civil immigration law

Immigrant
Someone who makes a conscious decision to leave his or her home and move to a foreign country with the intention of settling there.

Migrant
Someone who is moving from place to place (within his or her country or across borders), usually to seek better opportunities

Asylum seeker
Someone who is also seeking international protection from dangers in his or her home country, but whose claim for refugee status hasn’t been determined legally

Refugee
Someone who has been forced to flee his or her home because of war, violence or persecution, often without warning