Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo. Photo: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Trump administration's reversal of a long-standing policy discouraging immigration enforcement in "sensitive" areas like schools and churches has officials nationwide prepping for new encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The big picture: The White House told NBC News it expects enforcement operations on school grounds to be "extremely rare" and that the policy change is not a directive to go into schools.
State of play: Manyschool districts are rushing to implement policies to spell out how they will interact with ICE agents.
"Orleans Parish School Board's policy is to adhere to all state and federal laws," a spokeswoman said.
But charter schools, which comprise nearly all Orleans Parish schools, can set their own policies with how they comply, she said.
A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which manages the city's Catholic schools and churches, pointed to a US Conference of Catholic Bishops statement, which says in part that "non-emergency immigration enforcement in schools [and] places of worship ... where people receive essential services would be contrary to the common good."
As for Jefferson Parish, a school spokesperson said that "school staff do not enforce immigration laws, and any enforcement inquiries will be directed to our legal department."
And, the spokesperson noted, "every child has the right to a free public education without discrimination."
