An emergency bill to require California schools to notify parents and school staff when federal immigration officers are operating in the area passed the state Legislature on Sept. 2.
Senate Bill 98—dubbed the Sending Alerts to Families in Education, or SAFE Act—is now waiting to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“With students returning to school, this legislation is more important than ever,” the bill’s author, state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, a Democrat from Pasadena, said in a statement. “The SAFE Act will inform and protect immigrant students and their families on school campuses.”
If signed into law, the measure will require all elementary, secondary, charter schools, and college campuses to make the notifications. The schools would need to update their safety plans to include procedures for the notifications and provide additional resources for families about their educational rights, state privacy laws, and counseling or support services.
The notification would also be required to include the date, time, and location of the immigration enforcement.
The legislation includes an urgency clause, which means it would take effect immediately after Newsom signs it, instead of the typical date of Jan. 1, 2026.
California schools serve an estimated 133,000 children ages 3 to 17 who are illegal immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based global immigration policies think tank. More than 2.7 million people in California are illegal immigrants, and over 400,000 have moved to the state within the last five years, the institute reported.
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border on his first day in office Jan. 20, making immigration enforcement a top priority. Since then, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have included checking the welfare of immigrant children who crossed the border illegally and without a parent in the past four years.
In the face of ongoing federal immigration operations, Pérez said the SAFE Act can help “inform and empower school communities to make the best decisions about their safety and their family’s safety.”
“I urge [Newsom] to sign the SAFE Act,” Pérez continued. “Students and their families have been living in fear. California must ensure our schools and colleges remain places where students can learn, teachers can teach, and classrooms can be safe places for young Californians.”
The legislation was a priority of the California Latino Legislative Caucus and was sponsored by the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, the University of California Student Association, California State Student Association, Student Senate for California Community Colleges, California Faculty Association, and others.
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