The NYC teachers’ union is coaching educators on how to help migrant kids and families avoid getting picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at home or in public – going beyond the city’s guidance limited to keeping ICE out of schools.
In Zoom sessions last week, leaders of the United Federation of Teachers urged teachers to print out and distribute “red cards,” a tool created by immigrant advocates to spell out an asylum seeker’s constitutional rights if confronted by ICE officers.
“If ICE comes to the home, you do not have to open the door. In fact, you should not open the door,” UFT rep Katie Kurjakovic said in an hourlong workshop Wednesday on protecting undocumented students and families.
“If you open the door but leave the chain on … that could be interpreted as allowing ICE in, so you should keep the door closed and remain silent. Say ‘I plead the fifth, and choose to remain silent,’” Kurjakovic said teachers should advise.
Those who don’t speak English can slip a “red card” under the door, she added.
Created by the non-profit Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), the cards state in English and other languages: “I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.”
The cards also state, “I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights.”
Kurjakovic told teachers they can print out the cards — on paper of any color –from a link on its website listing immigrant student and family resources.
Some city schools have started distributing the cards as raids and deportations have begun following President Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Last week, ICE officers took more than 100 NYC migrants into custody.
However, some principals “are not feeling comfortable doing that,” Kurjakovic said. They want a green-light from Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos to print and distribute the cards.
DOE press secretary Nicole Brownstein refused to say whether the chancellor sanctions the practice. Aviles-Ramos has tempered her criticism of Trump’s immigration crackdown while Mayor Adams has promised to help ICE round up criminal migrants.
The city DOE does not offer the cards on its resource page, which instead focuses on what staff should do if ICE agents show up at schools – basically bar them without a court order or subpoena.
The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs does not cite the cards, but advises migrants they don’t have to open the door for ICE/Immigration, and can remain silent or ask if the agents have a judicial warrant.
Manhattan-based immigration lawyer John Cavallo told The Post he doubts the red cards will stop ICE agents, based on a recent raid in Newark which snagged a US military veteran.
“I really don’t think somebody is going to show this card and an ICE agent will say, ‘Oh excuse me. I’m sorry to bother you,’” Cavallo said, but added he hopes ICE will follow the Constitution.
Kevin C. Downs for NY Post
In the Zoom workshop, Kurjakovic also said teachers should tell students and families to carry only a library card or other city-issued ID:
“We know from our immigrant advocacy groups it’s very important at this time that people not carry any documentation that [suggests] they were born in another country, because that can raise questions.”
A high school teacher who attended a Zoom session voiced skepticism: “The UFT needs to stop fueling fear. They [ICE] have not been inside a single school, and that will likely remain the case — unless a 17-year-old is here illegally and raped someone.”
UFT President Mike Mulgrew faces challengers in the union’s May election, the teacher noted: “He’s just virtue signaling and campaigning, not caring about his members or students.”
