"Prepared for everything": LA school police ordered to protect students from ICE

Los Angeles school police will create safety perimeters around campuses and graduation venues to deter federal immigration agents, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

The move comes amid a wave of immigration raids across LA, including one next to Huntington Park High School. The district’s superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, said the policy is meant to ensure that students and families can celebrate graduation without fear.

“We stand strongly on the right side of law,” Carvalho said at a Monday press conference. “Every student in our community, every student across the country, has a constitutional right to a free public education of high quality, without threat.”

Following several days of protests against ICE raids in L.A., President Donald Trump mobilized 700 marines to the city. His administration previously deployed 2,000 troops from the California national guard to Los Angeles, in a move that California Gov. called "purposefully inflammatory." The White House has said the decisions were necessary because the state's leaders have "completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens."

While federal agents have reportedly not yet attempted to enter schools during the current string of raids, Carvalho said they were “prepared for everything” during graduation weekend. He called such a scenario “preposterous,” but not unthinkable given recent actions by the Trump administration.

The Times says that there are 100 graduation events planned for the first days of this week, with more to come through the weekend. 

“Our families are now forced to live in fear, looking over their shoulders on the way to school or their child’s graduation," school board member Rocio Rivas told the Times "This is just simply wrong. It is also very, very cruel."

“I’ve spoken with parents who’ve told me that their daughter would be the first in their family to graduate high school, and they’re not going to be there to witness it, because they have a fear of the place of graduation being targeted,” Carvalho said, noting that they will offer a virtual graduation option if necessary. “What nation are we becoming?”