President Trump’s Jan. 26 executive order puts the approximately 535,000 undocumented immigrants in New York City at risk of deportation, and their children who attend public schools now face being separated from their families. 

Trump goes far beyond sending back hardened criminals. The language in his executive order includes any undocumented worker who has signed an employment agreement in the United States or overstayed a visa. It casts a wide net that lumps together convicted felons and the hapless driver who parks illegally. It even criminalizes undocumented immigrants who have been charged but not convicted of a crime. 

The union has a long record of advocating for the safety and rights of immigrant New Yorkers. The UFT supported the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — President Obama’s 2012 executive order that exempts undocumented immigrants who entered the country before age 16 — and it has supported and participated in recent May Day and immigrant rights rallies.

This union will now stand by the immigrant students and families that are the target of the new president’s inhumane and punitive policies. We as educators believe that public schools must serve all children who walk through the door, and that responsibility extends to fighting for their safety and well-being.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled more than 30 years ago, in Plyler v. Doe, that undocumented children have the same right to a free public education as U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Schools cannot and should not inquire into a student’s immigration status.

Our schools must remain safe havens for undocumented children.