Civil Rights Group Sues Boston Public Schools, After ICE Incident

BOSTON, MA — Civil rights advocates are suing the Boston Public Schools in an effort to force the school system to hand over documents they say lead to the deportation of a Boston High School student earlier this year, WBUR first reported.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Economic Justice and students’ rights groups filed the suit this week naming the City of Boston, BPS, and Superintendent Tommy Chang. They're asking for detailed reports on just how many times school officials have tipped off ICE about Boston students.

“The issue of public schools’ cooperation with law enforcement—already of intense public importance—has taken on heightened urgency for immigrant families since 2017,” reads the lawsuit. “As federal deportation efforts intensify, the question of how and under what circumstances public schools are providing information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) has become even more crucial.

"The threats to students and their families are real: the public records request at issue here was made following an incident where Boston Public Schools ("BPS") shared information that led to a BPS student
being taken into ICE custody and subsequently deported. The public has a right to know the extent to which schools are sharing information on schoolchildren via the BRIC."

According to the suit, the group asked the school district a number of times for that information with names redacted. But to no avail. District officials told them they do not keep the kinds of records the groups want.

They said they were tipped off, after a "non violent" confrontation at East Boston High School, a student who had a special visa for abused or neglected children, was deported to El Salvador by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A school resource officer at the school allegedly listed the the student as a gang member in a report and then shared that report with the law enforcement collaboration Boston Regional Intelligence Center. ICE is a part of that collaboration.

The lawsuit says the plaintiffs believe Boston Public Schools and the Boston School Police have a practice of disclosing student incident reports to BRIC.

"As a result, the student information is being used by ICE to investigate violations of federal immigration laws," reads the lawsuit.

Read the full WBUR Reports:

Civil Rights Attorneys Sue BPS

Boston student in ICE custody (January 2018).

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