EDITOR'S NOTE: Multimedia journalist Shellye Leggett spoke with United Teachers Los Angeles about the impact the visits by federal agents might have on students and their families and California's attorney general who assured residents there will be no bending of the knee when it comes to protecting people's rights. Click the arrow above to watch the video.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Federal agents were denied entry at a pair of Los Angeles Unified School District schools this week.
The agents from Homeland Security Investigations asked about particular students at Lillian Elementary School and Russell Elementary School in South LA.
Homeland Security Investigations is under the Department of Homeland Security, which also controls Immigration and Custom Enforcement, better known as ICE.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho addressed the incidents Thursday morning, acknowledging that he sounded "angry" because he was.
"Actions were taken in this community that have no place in our city, in our state or across America," he said during a news conference.
Federal agents visited the elementary schools on Monday, Carvalho said.
The first visit happened at Russell Elementary School at 10 a.m., where four individuals — who identified themselves as Homeland Security agents — asked "specific questions" about four students ranging from first to sixth grade.
"What interest should a Homeland Security agent have in a first grader, or a second grader, a third grader or a fourth grader, for that matter?" the superintendent said.
Hours later, agents visited Lillian Elementary School, clarifying they were not ICE and asked questions about a sixth grader.
Carvalho said the federal agents resisted identifying themselves and claimed the kids' parents gave them permission to go to the school.
The kids' parents say that is not true.
Carvalho credited the administrators at the schools for following their training in denying the agents access to the young children. The superintendent noted that LAUSD's legal department is responding to the incidents.
The agents did not have a warrant for access to the school.
"We will protect our kids. We will educate our kids. We will inspire our kids. We will not allow abuse intimidation of our children or our workforce," the superintendent said. "Schools are places for learning. Schools are places for understanding. Schools are places for instruction. Schools are not places of fear."
Carvalho also led Thursday's conference by acknowledging that he himself came to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant 40 years ago, at age 17.
In a statement to Spectrum News, a DHS spokesperson denied the visit being about immigration.
“These HSI officers were at these schools conducting wellness checks on children who arrived unaccompanied at the border. This had nothing to do with immigration enforcement.
“DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited, abused, and sex trafficked. Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families. In less than 70 days, Secretary Noem and Secretary Kennedy have already reunited nearly 5,000 unaccompanied children with a relative or safe guardian.”
LA City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, co-author of the city's Sanctuary City Ordinance, reacted to the news of the visits by federal agents to the elementary schools by urging people to know their rights. He said in part:
“Showing up at our schools to harass innocent children is a despicable new low, and every official in Donald Trump’s Republican Party should be asked if they support these disgusting intimidation tactics... We won’t give into this cowardly intimidation. Be prepared and know your rights by visiting lausd.org/weareone.”
