Educators fear Arizona immigration ballot proposal will harm schoolchildren

Educators in Arizona are sounding the alarm about a proposed ballot measure that, if supported by voters, would allow local and state officers to arrest people they believe entered the country illegally — and they would be able to do so at schools, hospitals and places of worship.

Unlike the Texas law it is patterned after, the proposed ballot measure in Arizona, HCR2060, does not prohibit making arrests at those institutions. The measure also allows judges to order those arrested to be detained and deported.

"We've already been hearing a lot of parents being extremely nervous if this passes; what is going to happen with drop-off, what is going to happen with pickup" of their children at school, said Jeff Zetino, research and policy director for ALL In Education, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve Latino education outcomes.

Zetino said that one parent leader has two children with autism and wondered what will happen when she goes to get health services.

"Does she have to worry about bringing identification or her papers or is she going to be harassed by officials on or near a health care campus?" he asked.

While drastic measures such as pulling a child out of a classroom or a worshipper from a pew may not happen, a community resource officer— security officers stationed at schools — or any official could ask a student or ask parents for proof that they did not enter the U.S. illegally, Zetino said.

This possibility “makes the really difficult relationship between the school and the community tenuous,” he said.

Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, the Arizona House minority whip, warned Tuesday that the proposal would turn parent-teacher conferences into immigration enforcement stings, that some families might not go to