Students Fearful After Posts Threaten to Report Undocumented Peers to ICE

Yahoo

17-02-2025

This article was originally published in Maryland Matters.
Community leaders called on Baltimore County school officials Tuesday to ensure that undocumented students are protected, days after reports that an Overlea High School teacher reached out to immigration officials and offered to name names.
That incident has rippled through the immigrant community, leaving students and family members more scared than ever over their safety in school, advocates said during Tuesday night's board meeting and at a news conference earlier in the day.
'This isn't just about one teacher,' said Lucas Cunha, an Essex business owner who testified to the board. 'He offered to hand over the names students to ICE – young people he was entrusted to protect.'
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Cunha, who was once undocumented, called the alleged actions of the Baltimore County teacher a 'betrayal' that 'didn't just endanger immigrants, it shattered the trust of every student.'
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Advocates were referring to a series of posts last week that appeared to come from a since-deleted account on X, called @RennerTraining, that tags the account of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and offers to share the names of undocumented students.
'If you want the names to investigate families to find illegals, let me know in dm [direct message]. I'll give names and school. All in Md,' according to screenshots of the posts.
County school officials did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The Teachers Association of Baltimore County said in a Facebook post Tuesday that it was 'aware of alleged actions by an educator at Overlea High School last week,' without further elaboration on the incident.
'It's also important to note that all students have privacy rights based on federal FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protections,' the Facebook statement said. 'And while immigration issues may seem complicated, some things are simple: children do not decide where and how their parents choose to move.'
But Crisaly De Los Santos, Central Maryland and Baltimore director for CASA, said during a virtual event Tuesday afternoon that the incident has shattered the sense of security for families in the region.
'Families should feel confident that when their children are in schools, they're safe and they're protected and supported by teachers and administrators who they trust to care for their children,' she said. 'But in light of recent events, we have seen how this basic expectation has not been met.'
She said that the county school board needs to 'adopt a clear and comprehensive policy to ensure that ICE is going to be blocked from accessing school resources and personal information.'
'We need a policy that guarantees that students' safety and their future is not going to be jeopardized by federal immigration enforcement,' she said. 'The current policy is just not enough, and it does not provide the clarity some families need to feel safe in our schools.'
Several members of Baltimore County's immigrant community said during the virtual event that the social media posts heightened anxiety many were already feeling under President Donald Trump (R). They did not provide their full names for privacy reasons.
A 12th grader named Helen shared that her goals are simple: She wants to become fluent in English and attend college. But she is now constantly worried that her 'personal information will be shared with ICE,' which makes focusing on schoolwork difficult.
'Every student deserves to feel safe at school, no matter where they come from,' Helen said.
Another Baltimore County student, who used the pseudonym Rosa, said the United States is the country she 'calls home,' but 'hearing a county teacher threatened to call ICE made me feel that I did not belong in this country.'
Gricelda, a parent of three Baltimore County public school students, said she worries about sending her children to school each day.
'I have to think every day about the possibilities of family separation — and what this could lead to for many families … Just seeing that a Baltimore County Public School teacher has threatened to share students' information with ICE, it really worries me,' she said through De Los Santos, who translated. 'This is something that does not just affect me, but many other families, and I am constantly worried, thinking about if sending my kids to school is the safe thing to do.'
During open comments at the virtual board meeting, Cunha and others said a sense of security is important for immigrant safety so students can learn.
'Every single opportunity I got … was because of the trust that I built with my teachers over 20 years ago,' Cunha said. 'That trust is the foundation of every student's success. That very trust is what's at stake here.'
Peter Baum, who was previously taught English as a second language in Baltimore County, said he's been in 'education for over eight years … and in my time I have never heard of such a massively egregious violation of student safety.'
While she did not speak on the case itself, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said during the virtual board meeting that 'teachers, all staff, are expected to create safe learning environment for our schools, for our students.'
She also noted that federal and state law 'protects student privacy and prohibits the release of student information.'
'When staff members violate those expectations and break policy, there are consequences. We absolutely do follow due process. There is an investigation, and based on the results of those investigations, next steps are determined,' she said.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: [e-mail].