Roswell, N.M.: Pursuit Of The Undocumented Into The Schools

Federal courts have upheld the obligation of the states to provide emergency health care and public education to the undocumented. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as a consequence, does not go onto school campuses. But in some towns, where local police monitor schools, it has been known to happen that school security turns over undocumented students for deportation. Such a case happened recently in Roswell, N.M., -- a town about half Latino, with 60% of the school children Latino. Not all are immigrant, and not all who took offense at the school security in turning the student over to the Border Patrol were immigrant. Some Hispanic families wonder if their children will now be subject to ethnic profiling. The issue has divided the conservative town and has outraged Latino students. Even thw school faculties are divided. (See LA Times article.)