‘We need more’: Waltham’s ICE policy draws praise, criticism

As federal immigration agents have arrested people across Massachusetts and rumors of more ICE sightings swirl, the Waltham Public Schools policy says it won’t allow agents onto school property without a warrant.

Kate Perez, speaking in her capacity as acting superintendent of Waltham Public Schools earlier this year, sent an email in January to employees, students and their families explaining how the school department intends to deal with any visits from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

“ICE agents will not be allowed access to our schools without proper judicial warrants and will not be allowed to disrupt our educational programming in any way,” Perez wrote. “The Waltham Public School District is committed to serving all children who reside in the District and to maintaining a safe and productive learning environment for all students.”

The statement said the email was sent with the support of Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa, who was then on medical leave, and in collaboration with Waltham Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy and the Waltham Police Department.

The Waltham Times sought interviews with Waltham school officials recently to discuss the policy in light of a spate of ICE arrests in Massachusetts. Most declined to speak about the email or the district’s policy.

When the Times contacted Mendonsa asking for an interview, she replied by sending a copy of Perez’s email and later her own statement. “There is no change in our approach and no updated information from when the information was sent in January,” her statement said.

Edmund Tarallo, a member of the city’s School Committee, said in a brief interview that the January email represented the committee’s opinion on the matter, adding that they “will follow what the law says.”

The Times also contacted more than 30 teachers and administrators to ask them about the district’s policy, but none of them was willing to speak with a reporter.

In a brief interview Monday with the Times, McCarthy reiterated that ICE agents would have to go through the superintendent’s office with the proper warrants if they wanted to take action against any students.

While some people in Waltham said they appreciated Perez’s email, some said the schools can — and should — be doing more.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Jonathan Paz, a Waltham resident and former city councilor. “But we need more.”

Paz said the policy is a “positive signal” that the city and school district recognized the threat and fear that ICE represents but added that he didn’t think it was anything different from what the rest of the state has been doing.

“I would love to see more parameters, more measures, more ideas from our school’s leadership as to how they’re going to protect our youth,” he said.

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has been ramping up deportations. Border Czar Tom Homan announced in February, “I’m coming to Boston, I’m bringing hell with me.”

That announcement was followed by an increase in ICE activity in Massachusetts. The agency conducted a sweep in March in which it arrested a reported 370 immigrants in Boston and surrounding areas. 

Both the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Boston Public Schools have issued policies regarding ICE. While the state policy is similar to Waltham Public Schools’, the Boston schools policy is more detailed. It serves as a guide that staff can follow should ICE arrive at their school, with or without a warrant.

If ICE agents show up at a school in Waltham, their first point of contact would be the school itself, not the Waltham police school resource officer assigned to the school, said Patrick Dean, a Waltham police detective sergeant.

“The officers don’t control access to the school,” he said. “The schools control access, and the police are there just to assist the school with their functions.”

Outside of the schools, Dean said the Police Department generally does not work with ICE.

“Typically the way it works is when they come to town, they’ll give us a courtesy call, which is essentially for officer safety purposes,” he said. “But we’re not in the habit of actually calling them ourselves and saying, ‘Hey, just so you know, we got this guy in lockup.’”

Dean said that the Police Department would not turn over someone in its custody to ICE. Waltham District Court would also not turn over somebody to ICE, since that person was in court for a state matter, and ICE is a federal agency.

There have been several unconfirmed sightings of ICE in Waltham in the past few months, leading to rumors circulating on social media.

With the threat of another sweep looming, some in the community worry about the effect the ICE rumors have had on children and families in Waltham.

“[Deporting a parent] is the most inhuman and cruel thing that you can put a child through,” said Genoveva Tavera, a community organizer at WATCH CDC, a Waltham-based community development corporation dedicated to promoting affordable housing, providing adult education and leadership development, and empowering underrepresented residents through civic engagement.

“By talking casually with members of my community, especially children, they don’t understand the world,” she said. They think that [deportation] is as radical as killing a parent.”

The children are not the only ones affected by the idea of deportation, Tavera added.

“I cannot say that I’m feeling OK to have this over my head, like a black shadow, like a black cloud following you, thinking that one day I can learn that someone in my community is being affected like that,” she said. 

This story is part of a partnership between The Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.