Filing Immigration Enforcement Civil Rights Complaints for Violations of the “Sensitive Locations” Policy At or Near Your School

Filing Immigration Enforcement Civil Rights Complaints for Violations of the “Sensitive Locations” Policy At or Near Your School

JANUARY 2019


WHO

The complaint form downloadable from this page may be used by any schools, individuals, or organizations that have individual or collective complaints about local law enforcement officers or immigration officials violating the “sensitive locations” memos[1] at or near your school (or other sensitive locations[2]) or committing misconduct, racial profiling, or other civil rights abuses in the course of enforcing immigration laws.

WHEN

For the purpose of this toolkit, a complaint should be filed anytime the complainant (e.g., the school, a parent, organization, or other individual) believes that an immigration official (or officials) or other law enforcement officer(s) has/have violated the sensitive locations memos by conducting immigration enforcement activity at or near the school or other sensitive location. In addition, a complaint should be filed for any civil rights violation by local law enforcement officers who are engaging in or facilitating immigration enforcement activities, as well as any violations of civil rights by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), or other local, state, or federal law enforcement agency engaging in immigration enforcement.

WHAT

Below are examples of possible violations of the sensitive locations memos. This list of examples is not exhaustive. Your complaint must describe what happened at or near your school, even if what happened does not match any of the examples provided below. You will be submitting two complaint forms directly to U.S. government agencies with immigration enforcement responsibilities: (1) the attached form, in which you should describe in detail what happened and (2) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) complaint form to which a hyperlink is provided below.

Examples of possible violations:

  1. Officer conducted immigration enforcement activity of any kind­ — such as stopping, arresting, detaining, questioning/interviewing, searching, or surveilling of a person — at the school site or on school property.
  2. Officer used the school premises in any way to facilitate or conduct immigration enforcement activity.
  3. Officer stopped, arrested, or detained parent(s)/guardian(s)/caretaker(s) while they were picking up or dropping off a child at school.
  4. Officer surveilled school bus stop during drop-off or pick-up hours and/or stopped, arrested, or detained a student or parent at or near the bus stop.
  5. Officer(s) made false or misleading communications with parent(s)/guardian(s)/caretaker(s) to induce them to come to the school (such as that their child needed medication) and then arrested or detained them there.

Include any relevant documents and copies of any paperwork related to the complaint or its circumstances.

HOW

See the instructions for the complaint form downloadable from this page.

Thank you for your time and your efforts to keep our schools as safe zones!


NOTES

[1] Memorandum from David V. Aguilar, Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Enforcement Actions At or Near Certain Community Locations” (Jan. 18, 2013), https://foiarr.cbp.gov/docs/Policies_and_Procedures/2013/826326181_1251/1302211111_CBP_Enforcement_Actions_at_or_Near_Certain_Community_Locations_%7BSigned_M.pdf; Memorandum from John Morton, Director, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, “Enforcement Actions at or Focused on Sensitive Locations” (Oct. 24, 2011), https://www.ice.gov/doclib/ero-outreach/pdf/10029.2-policy.pdf.

[2] The sensitive locations memos reiterate longstanding policy of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to avoid immigration enforcement activities in “sensitive locations” which include, but are not limited to, all schools (K-12, public, private, colleges, and adult/alternative schools), hospitals, places of worship, sites of public religious ceremonies (such as weddings or funerals), and sites used during a public demonstration, such as a march or parade.