Mayor Adams:

 

The fact that the Justice Department is holding you hostage on your criminal case does not mean that you are free to  ignore your responsibilities to the children and educators of New York City.

 

Since January, when you refused to answer questions about ICE agents' ability to enter public buildings, you have created a climate of fear that New York City educators have had to deal with.

 

Rather than support teachers as they help tens of thousands of immigrant children, you have made their jobs more difficult.

 

Educators have worked hard to calm their students' fears and to share accurate information about their rights.

 

All that work was upended last week when your administration sent out a new memo outlining how ICE agents could be admitted to many public buildings. The memo didn't apply to public schools and was contrary to state regulations, but it still had a chilling effect on school attendance and on the confidence that New York families should have in their city government.

 

Your memo was a selfish political ploy with New York City students, educators, and school communities left paying the price.

 

Protecting children is part of a teacher's DNA, and if there ever comes a time when teachers are so beaten down that they no longer protect their students, our society will be in trouble.

 

We also know the law and in New York State all children — whatever their legal status — are entitled to a free, appropriate public education.   

 

It has been the position of both New York City and New York State that immigration and other federal government agents cannot enter public schools without a signed warrant from a federal judge or magistrate that identifies the person the agents are searching for.  The agents are not permitted to conduct random sweeps of the buildings or to use a variety of other administrative procedural documents to gain entry.

 

In addition, the state education department has confirmed its long-held policy that law enforcement officers may not remove a student from school property or interrogate a student without the consent of the student’s parent.  New York State Executive Order 170.1 makes it clear that civil arrests by federal immigration authorities can take place in schools or other state institutions only when accompanied by a judicial warrant.  

 

Of course, there is an exception to these rules.  New Yorkers are all too familiar with crime at all levels of our society, and both city and state policies permit law enforcement intervention when a crime or other safety issue is imminent in the school or other public building.

 

No one wants felons, home-grown or from abroad, terrorizing our communities.

 

But the students in our schools are not the problem, and you know that.

 

Michael Mulgrew

President

United Federation of Teachers