Immigration bills reflect urgency of current public school concerns

We typically don't see a ton of policy bills in the short session, especially bills that create a fiscal requirement because the short session is the time to rebalance the budget. This year, legislators introduced a number of bills to address the ongoing tensions Oregonians and people across the nation are facing. I have been working on two bills related to immigration enforcement and public schools.

In 1987, Oregon was the first state in the nation to pass a sanctuary law, prohibiting the use of state and local law enforcement resources to detect or apprehend persons whose only violation was being in the country in violation of federal immigration laws. The law has been amended a couple of times since then, prohibiting all public bodies, including school districts, from using resources for immigration enforcement. School districts may not grant federal immigration authorities access to non-public spaces or provide them with information absent a judicial warrant.

Fast forward to present day. Most of us have heard the reports of ICE agents around school campuses or in neighborhoods, creating a lot of concern for school staff, students, families and community members. Two bills this session are hoping to address some of these concerns and the communication districts provide to their communities.

House Bill 4079 would require school districts to adopt a policy to notify staff, parents, students and community-based organizations that provide direct services if immigration enforcement agents are on campus. I worked closely with my colleague at the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators and Rep. Sarah Finger McDonald, D-Corvallis, to ensure that this bill would be implementable in schools and would not create additional costs.

The previous versions of the bill required all staff be trained on the policy, a new data-reporting requirement both at the district level and with the Oregon Department of Education, and for school staff to contact an attorney prior - all of which would have created a significant expense for districts. The current version of the bill simply requires a district administrator or their designee to provide notification expediently if immigration enforcement is on campus (expediently has been interpreted elsewhere in statute to mean by the end of the day or within 24 hours).

The bill permits the school board to determine the communication's contents and delivery method.

Senate Bill 1538 would do a couple of things. First, it would codify the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe from 1982, which requires public schools to educate all children, regardless of their immigration status, free of charge. It also would require the attorney general's office to consult with the Office of Immigration and Refugee Advancement and organizations that represent school boards and school professionals (like OSBA and COSA) to update model policies for Oregon's sanctuary law as it relates to public schools.

The model policies would need to contain a process for verifying the validity of any warrant or court order, a requirement that the superintendent review and approve any response to a law enforcement request involving immigration information, provisions that encourage the superintendent to consult with legal counsel prior to any response, and recommendations for how employees will respond to immigration enforcement.

The bill would require all school districts, education service districts and public charter schools to provide to their employees the model policies. Similarly to HB 4079, my colleague at COSA and I worked closely with Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, to eliminate any potential fiscal or implementation problems we flagged in the bill. The previous version required districts to adopt the policies and consult an attorney and mandated training for all employees.

HB 4079 is scheduled for a House Education Committee work session (meaning it could get a vote) on Monday, Feb. 9. SB 1538 is scheduled for a Senate Education Committee work session on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

OSBA has long raised the issue of burdensome and unsupported school costs that can come with well-intended legislation. Legislators are hearing that message. Their willingness to collaborate on these bills makes for more effective legislation for students and schools.

- Adrienne Anderson
OSBA government relations counsel