Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took a 47-year-old woman from Ecuador and her teenage son into custody after receiving a referral from Border Patrol. The agency stated that the woman asked for her son to be released from Cecil Shamley School so the child could return with her to their country of origin.
Parents of children attending the school are livid as Tempe Elementary School District Principal Bronwyn Sternberg fired off a letter to them stating that parents and guests would not be allowed to attend students’ graduation due to the illegal alien and her son being taken into custody by ICE. Angry parents called the whole mess sad, citing the son’s excitement over being promoted to 9th grade and no longer getting to enjoy the experience, and because two families were denied seeing their children’s accomplishments.
A video taken by Neftali Smith showed Cecil Shamley School parents attempting to get a glimpse of their kids as they move up to the next grade in their academic careers. “It’s something that we would have celebrated. We would have normally had balloons and flowers and, you know, we just kind of made a big deal of it,” Smith went on to say.
According to Fox 10 Phoenix, Smith and her family called off work to celebrate her daughter’s eighth grade promotion. The previous day, Principal Sternberg sent letters to the parents stating that the promotion ceremony was going to move forward as planned, but without parents or guests in attendance. This didn’t sit well with Smith.
“We love the district, it’s just sometimes the ball gets dropped and, you know, there’s got to be some accountability and I think that’s what we needed to see today,” Smith went on to say. She then revealed that the reason for not allowing parents or guests to attend was due to fear on the part of administrators that a protest would carry over into the promotion ceremony.
“There’s a child that did not get to graduate today and that’s very sad. I don’t know the circumstances, but it doesn’t matter. My daughter did not know him personally but her friend did. So I know they were kind of shaken up, and it’s a difficult situation for the kids,” Smith said. She also stated that she believes the district could have done a better job handling the situation, finding a way to still allow families to attend the event while clearly communicating the reason for what happened.
Sternberg’s letter started, “This letter is to update you on current events at Shamley School over the past two days. As I wrote in my email last night, there was an incident involving federal law enforcement near our school on May 26. A parent of a Shamley School student was detained by federal immigration authorities off campus. At no time did Federal Agents enter Shamley School.”
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“The detention of a Shamley parent did not take place on school property. The parent signed the student out of school in accordance with school procedures. We understand that this situation has caused concern for students, families, staff, and community members. We remain focused on providing a safe and secure environment for our students,” Sternberg wrote.
“To ensure safety, we are modifying tomorrow’s eighth grade promotion ceremony. The ceremony will take place at the scheduled time but without parents or guests in the audience. Our Shamley sixth and seventh grade students will attend the ceremony to celebrate this accomplishment with the eighth grade students. The ceremony will be recorded and shared with eighth grade families,” the letter continued.
Sternberg then said, “We will send an email to eighth grade families with a link to the video as soon as it is available for viewing. At 9:30 a.m., parents of eighth grade students will be able to pick up their students from the front office. This change may be disappointing for some families, however, we feel it is truly in the best interest of our students and staff.”
ICE put out a statement of their own combating false claims that the agency conducted an operation near the school, saying, “Claims circulating about an ICE operation, raid, or enforcement action at or near Cecil Shamley School are completely inaccurate and appear to be sensationalized. ICE did not conduct any such activity at the school.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video