Four federal agents tried to enter two elementary schools in Los Angeles on April 7, telling the school principals that they came to make a “welfare check” on five undocumented children in first, second, third, and sixth grades. The agents first went to Russell Elementary and later went to Lillian Street Elementary, both in south Los Angeles. The federal agents falsely told school officials that they had spoken with the children’s parents who had authorized them to go to the schools, according to ABC News’ New York TV network WABC TV.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho of the Los Angeles Unified School District said, “We have confirmed that that is a falsehood. We’ve spoken with the caretakers of these children, in some cases parents, and they deny any interaction with these entities, and certainly deny providing authorization for these individuals to have any contact with these children at the school. I’m still mystified as to how a first, second, third, fourth or sixth grader would pose any type of risk to the national security of our nation that would require Homeland Security to deploy its agents to two elementary schools.”
The four agents identified themselves as Department of Homeland Security agents. The school principals refused to allow the agents to enter the school without a warrant and also called the school district headquarters which sent out people from the legal staff and district police. At that point the federal agents returned to their vehicles and drove off.
The Trump administration has removed restrictions that prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting raids at so-called sensitive locations, including schools.