Immigrants are welcome at Fort Worth schools

Voters in the Fort Worth school district’s 2013 bond program approved $12.1 million for campus security enhancements.

Not a huge amount of money in a $490 million program, perhaps, but still a solid acknowledgment that Fort Worth wants all of its kids to feel safe at school.

Now district trustees are considering adding another layer confidence to that feeling, and it doesn’t cost a thing. On Tuesday night, board members are expected to vote on a resolution to reassure all students and parents that they are not only safe but welcome at school.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Many immigrant families are on edge about President Donald Trump’s plans for deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal status.

Trump’s team has issued assurances that the current targets are undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions, but anecdotal accounts of a much broader arrest effort are swirling in immigrant communities.

Some immigrants are so afraid that they are keeping their children home from school. School board members must do what they can to reassure them that their kids will not be snatched from class in a federal immigration raid.

In fact, federal immigration officials have “sensitive locations policies” under which they generally avoid enforcement activities at schools, churches and hospitals.

Every child is entitled to a safe, welcoming public education regardless of their or their parents’ immigration status. The board should approve this resolution.

This story was originally published February 27, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Immigrants are welcome at Fort Worth schools."