Protecting Campuses with Senate Bill 98: Alerts for Immigration Enforcement

As immigration raids continue to tear families and communities apart—and with the recent news that the Supreme Court has lifted an order that prevented federal immigration agents in Los Angeles from stopping people based on race or ethnicity, language, location, or employment—CFA members are rising up to advocate for our most vulnerable community members.

One path forward is by advocating for legislation that helps protect our immigrant communities, and our members are proudly sponsoring and co-sponsoring several immigration-related bills.

Among them is Senate Bill (SB) 98, also known as the Sending Alerts to Families in Education (SAFE) Act, which requires K-12 schools and higher education institutions to issue alerts if immigration enforcement authorities are present on campus.

“Students being fearful affects their ability within the classroom and what they can and cannot do, what they’re willing to do, and what they’re not able to do based on that anxiety. That’s why this bill is so critical.”

– CFA President Margarita Berta-Ávila

At a press conference last Tuesday, Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, the author of the bill, emphasized that the stakes of this bill are too high to wait until the normal enactment date of January 1. Joining her were California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Assemblymembers Al Muratsuchi and Liz Ortega.

Thurmond spoke to the gravity of the situation, citing that one in five students in California come from a mixed-status family.

“Think about the impacts that these immigration raids have on our families,” said Thurmond. “And if that weren’t enough, these terrible acts have a tremendous negative impact on our school financing structure because our schools get revenue when students attend and we lose revenue when students don’t.”

Muratsuchi, a faculty member at El Camino College, voiced concern for his students, many of whom shared their fear of mass deportations, while Ortega echoed those fears, speaking directly to the racial targeting that accompanies these raids.

“These are not criminals. These are hard-working families who came here just like my parents and have to contribute to our great state and to our nation,” Ortega asserted.

CFA President Margarita Berta-Ávila, Students for Quality Education intern Kenia Juarez, along with students from the CSU, University of California, and the California Community Colleges systems all gave heartfelt testimonies urging the governor to sign the bill into law.

“California is home to the largest undocumented students enrolled in higher education, and the current attacks on our immigrant communities put our very own college students at risk, especially at the very institutions that are supposed to be safe spaces for learning… spaces that our students and their families have sacrificed to be at,” expressed Berta-Ávila, a professor at Sacramento State. “Students being fearful affects their ability within the classroom and what they can and cannot do, what they’re willing to do, and what they’re not able to do based on that anxiety. That’s why this bill is so critical.”

“We’re watching in real time US citizens, our classmates, and our friends being taken,” said Juarez. “We deserve to feel safe in our schools. These are institutions for learning, for growing, and for building our futures. Schools are not institutions meant to normalized fear, nor where silence should be enforced… I urge you to support Senate Bill 98, not just for me, but for every student who deserves to feel safe and in their place of learning.”

SB 98 has passed both houses of the Legislature and is now on the governor’s desk awaiting final approval.

If you would like to get involved in our work to advocate in systemwide efforts to defend the rights of our documented and undocumented students, staff, faculty, and their families, please consider joining our Immigration Task Force here.