This story is syndicated from El Estoque, the newspaper of Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, CA. The original version of the story ran here.
When Fremont High School Wellness Specialist and alum Alejandra Flores (’14) received her acceptance from Arroyo Valley University on a partial sports scholarship, she truly believed that her days of living in fear were behind her. Although growing up as an undocumented immigrant had taught Flores to always remain on high alert, temporary protections from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act in 2012 opened up new opportunities, like moving across the country in search of a better future.
That was until President Donald Trump first came into office in 2017.
“When Trump got elected, that’s the first time we really started hearing realistic threats of getting rid of DACA,” Flores said. “Those threats and that fear got very real, so I decided to leave school, which was devastating.”
Within that shift was still an important hope, she said.
“I just started getting very involved with my community and the resources and tools that I had to make sure that I was fighting the fear with something tangible.”
Trump’s threats towards DACA during his first term ultimately went unfulfilled, allowing Flores to maintain her legal status and stay in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, Trump’s rhetoric towards undocumented immigrants in his second term has become noticeably more inflammatory.
In his first days in office, he has signed executive orders that attempt to dismantle birthright citizenship to children of noncitizens and reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy. He soon prompted the Department of Homeland Security to remove guidance that previously protected schools and religious spaces from ICE raids.
Spurred by growing hostility nationwide towards undocumented communities, California’s Fremont Union High School District Board of Trustees passed Resolution No. 2425-15 during a board meeting Jan. 14, just days before Trump took office again. The resolution reaffirmed the board’s commitment to protecting the safety of undocumented students and staff.
Associate Superintendent Trudy Gross explains that district policy ensures that the FUHSD will not assist federal immigration enforcement under current legal jurisdiction.
“Our goal is that school is a safe place — students have a right for that to be a safe place,” Gross said. “We are not voluntarily cooperating unless there are exigent circumstances or something that we’re presented, but we are very clear as to the procedures of anybody who comes onto our campuses.”
In efforts to mitigate fear caused by Trump’s new policies, California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued guidelines to school districts that provide resources to legally protect immigrant communities.
For immigration lawyer Dan Shanfield, the most impactful of the cases he’s handled have been those representing students in the documentation process. He was especially touched by cases like Flores’, which involve individuals brought to the U.S. during their youth and who have been forced to adapt ever since.
“These cases were also heart-wrenching because so many of these youths have so much academic, intellectual and professional promise,” Shanfield said. “They’re all worthy of having an opportunity, having been brought here as children and being essentially American, to live out their potential.”
Flores’ family was one of many drawn to the idyllic “American Dream.” Now, through her position as the FHS Wellness Specialist, Flores helps students under the same circumstances as her deal with their undocumented status. At FHS, she works on assisting students individually as well as compiling resources and educating teachers on how to approach conversations with undocumented students supportively.
“Thankfully, our district is really proactive about having resources on hand, so it’s more about letting families and staff and schools be aware of what those resources are,” Flores said. “Making sure that staff feel confident about how they can help their students, or who they can reach out to if students or they need help is crucial. Everything starts with making sure that the information you have is accessible to everybody, and language is a huge component of that.”
FUHSD has also made efforts to broaden access to this information district-wide. After Trump mandated unrelenting deportation protocols in one of his inaugural executive orders, “Protecting the American People From Invasion,” Superintendent Graham Clark was quick to act. In an email sent to all students and families, Clark highlighted various state resources for undocumented families and stated that the district’s “focus remains on providing education and support to every student and family, regardless of immigration status.”
Going forward, Gross says the district will continue to consult local authorities and develop educational resources on how to approach the evolving situation with sensitivity.
“There are certain guidelines that are coming out of the Department of Education and the Santa Clara County Office of Education,” Gross said. “We will use that guidance to communicate with our principals, our front office staff members and our teachers, because we do know that students are expressing worry to their teachers. We’re taking all that information and then determining the best ways to share that and use that in our practices.”
Shanfield advises the district to be careful that their well-intentioned support does not breach federal law. He believes that providing greater access to resources like legal clinics for families can help students find stability in a safe and legal way. He has seen the success of these clinics before, citing his previous partnership with the San Jose Mexican Consulate, where pro bono lawyers helped students apply for DACA, just as Flores did herself.
“They’re no longer kids — they’re adults, they’re married, they have children, they have work authorization, and they’ve made such a positive impact on the community, their families, their workplace,” Shanfield said. “We just need to keep up this fight to ensure that students going forward can have that same opportunity, and just be legally aggressive in finding solutions for them to not live in the shadows.”