The Orange County schools superintendent has a message for families who are worried about sending their kids to school amid immigration raids: They are safe with us.
Superintendent Maria Vazquez said while she cannot take away the fear those families feel, she can give this promise: "I believe our schools are the safest place for our children. They are able to get the education, the support services they need."
She reiterated several times she believes Central Florida schools continue to be the safest places for kids to be.
"We'll follow the law, but we will keep them safe, and the safest places for them to be is in our schools," said Vazquez.
A Trump administration policy allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct activities to enforce immigration laws in formerly "protected" places like schools and churches.
Vazquez says there was only one incident last school year of an ICE agent showing up at a facility who was referred to the district's legal services.
When asked about whether ICE agents would conduct raids in Florida schools this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wasn't sure.
"You'd have to ask [ICE], I don't know. I don't know that that's been what ICE has done. Obviously, I don't control that. That's something that the federal government controls," said DeSantis.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Last year, the American Federation of Teachers visited the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association and passed out several free resources on the topic.
Those resources included a "Know Your Rights" handout for families, and cards that can be printed out and kept in a child's backpack.
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