Frontier superintendent issues letter to families, sets record straight on ICE raids

HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) — As the Trump administration carries out Immigration and Custom Enforcement raids across the country, a local school superintendent set the record straight on fears that schools could be raided.

In the letter to school families last Thursday, Superintendent of Frontier Schools Christopher Swiatek acknowledged that ICE arrests have caused concern with many families because of the immigration status of some of their students and families.

There has been a lot of misinformation about these ICE raids and how far-reaching they really are. In the letter, Swiatek said the Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Association has talked with federal agencies and local members of Congress.

Swiatek said based on those conversations, ICE agents will not be visiting schools. Instead, as the letter mentions, the crackdown is focused on finding over 50,000 men and women in New York state who are believed to be in the country illegally and are considered dangerous.

The letter goes on to say that children who are in the country illegally will be kept with their families, so it’s possible that children could be deported in this scenario. WIVB News 4 spoke to a local immigration attorney on the possibility of federal agents going to schools.

“I think this was more leaning towards the direction of a church because of the nature of the population that they are looking for,” said Rosanna Berardi, a local immigration attorney. “They’re looking for individuals who have had criminality, have had final orders of removal and are still in the United States — that group is not typically in a school system.”

The New York State Education Department sent out guidance to schools, saying schools cannot disclose a student’s immigration status without a court order.

“Think about it, a judicial warrant is not an easy thing to obtain and a judge is certainly not going to send in a cadre of ICE agents into a school unless there’s a really good reason,” Berardi said. “In terms of unlawful students, are they posing a risk to society, are they violent felons? No.”

Berardi also said that the Trump administration is doing what previous administrations have done on finding those who have been issued a final order of removal. She said the big difference is that the current administration has publicized the crackdown more and has issued more executive orders.

The Trump administration has allowed agents to arrest migrants without legal status in so-called sensitive places like schools and churches.

Federal law still prohibits schools from disclosing students’ immigration status to school resource officers without prior consent from a parent or guardian.

Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy has already said federal agents aren’t going into schools. Williamsville Schools have put out a similar update to district families.

Swiatek said he could not do an interview because he’s busy preparing for the district’s board meeting Tuesday night.

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Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.

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