Guatemalan-born Carlos Marroquin won’t drive through Springdale Borough anymore.
Though he’s a naturalized citizen, he and his family determined the risk is too great after hearing about the detention of a local man who borough officers reportedly turned over to ICE following a traffic stop Tuesday morning.
“My husband is a U.S. citizen — he has paperwork,” his wife, Judah Marroquin, told Pittsburgh’s Public Source before an Allegheny Valley School Board meeting. “But Randy also had documents.”
She said the arrest and detention of Randy Cordova Flores — a man, according to his family, without a criminal history and in good standing with his asylum process — shows the borough’s recent agreement to assist federal immigrant officers presents a risk to immigrants in the community. Marroquin lives in Springdale Township and Flores in Springdale Borough. Both have children in the Allegheny Valley School District, which also includes Cheswick and Harmar. Marroquin wants the school administration to show it will keep immigration officers out of playgrounds and classrooms.
“We are fearful for ourselves and for our community members who are at higher risk of being targeted,” Marroquin told the school board.
Her comments Feb. 10 followed a short presentation from board member Amy Sarno, who encouraged her colleagues to adopt a “Welcoming Schools” policy, such as one created by the American Civil Liberties Union. Sarno said the policy could prohibit teachers and staff from sharing student information with authorities and require federal agents to show a warrant before entering school property.
She said adopting a policy might not make sweeping changes but would provide clarity.
“It would really just reiterate and make a statement on ‘these are our policies,’” said Sarno, a friend of Flores.
Sarno told Public Source after the meeting she would work on a proposal to share with the board, possibly before next week’s meeting.
Days earlier, the nearby Riverview School District inked a similar policy Feb. 9 following the Jan. 29 detention of a father at his Oakmont home.
Across the region, schools and municipalities are adopting resolutions calling either for closer cooperation or formalized non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
At Allegheny Valley, Superintendent Patrick Graczyk said the district already has policies in place limiting access to buildings and information sharing.
“Our goal is to support our students,” he said. “We also protect their privacy. We have rules for visitors. People can’t simply walk into our buildings.”
In an interview after the Feb. 10 meeting, Graczyk said the board and administration would review any new proposals before committing support.
“We’ll look it over and we’ll take our direction from there,” he said.
Solicitor Matthew Hoffman reiterated the existing limits to law enforcement access.
“Our buildings are not public places,” he said. “They don’t have the right of entry and even in certain situations even ICE officers don’t have the right of entry.”
Graczyk said school officials received an uptick in emails from students concerned about their peers whose immigration status may make them or their families vulnerable.
“It was very nice to see students reaching out out of concern for other students,” he said. “We’re a caring community and what impacts kids at home often flows into school.”
Springdale Borough Mayor Joel Anderson did not return calls for comment Tuesday or Wednesday. An ICE spokesperson indicated Tuesday that the agency was preparing comment on the Flores arrest, but did not provide a detailed response to questions by publication time.
Correction: Allegheny Valley School Board member Amy Sarno’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.
Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at jamie@publicsource.org.
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