Parents, students urge Union County Board of Education to declare schools safe from ICE; criticize board response

MONROE, N.C. — Parents, students and residents urged the Union County Board of Education on Wednesday to adopt clearer protections for students against immigration enforcement and to respond more directly to recent student protests.

Speakers described March and April walkouts at Monroe High School and said they want a formal board statement that ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is not welcome on school grounds and clearer local policy to protect students.

Those comments matter because speakers said the district’s silence has left immigrant students and families fearful and because community members tied local concerns to national incidents they said illustrate the stakes.

At the meeting, Luna Portillo Delgado, a resident, said board members dismissed student concerns as “rumors” and said that dismissal “plainly illustrates the weaponized incompetence and ignorance involving UCPS’s education on the topic of immigration.” She asked the board to take students’ demands seriously.

Skyler Breeder, a sixth grader at Cuthbertson Middle School, urged changes to district policy requiring that ICE present a judge-signed warrant before interacting with a student and that parents be given “a reasonable amount of time” to be present. “For me and my friends, it’s unbelievably traumatizing to even think that law enforcement can take a student,” she said.

Kobe Blackburn, a Union County resident and parent, said the board had not shown empathy for students who protested and argued the board should adopt “real preventative measures” before incidents occur elsewhere. He cited recent national examples, including reported ICE incidents in other states, to press the board to act locally.

Ingrid Portillo, a resident, described an increasing police presence at board meetings and said the show of force made some community members feel unwelcome. She praised Reverend Kirkpatrick as “the only board member … for caring and talking to the students” and called on other board members to engage more directly with the Latino community in Monroe.

David Petulio Delgado (who identified his last name as Portillo during remarks) said students “have a right to be heard” after marches to the district office and downtown demonstrations, and he criticized what he called “excessive deployment of the Monroe Police Department” at Monroe High School during protests.

Speakers repeatedly requested two actions: a board statement that UCPS schools are safe from ICE and immigration enforcement, and “equal treatment and opportunity and funding for all UCPS students.” Several speakers said they will continue to press the board for a formal statement.

The board did not respond during the public-comment period; the board’s public-comment rules — read at the start of the segment — state the board will not respond but may seek clarification later. The transcript shows board members listened and later discussed unrelated agenda items; there was no formal motion or vote on an ICE-related statement or policy change at the meeting.

The comments came during the meeting’s public-comment period, which the board limits to 60 minutes and gives priority to residents, parents, students and employees. Several speakers noted the timing of local protests (March 5 and April 1 were referenced) and said students had marched to the Board of Education and attended town halls seeking a response.

The board did not take formal action on the requests during the meeting. Some individual board members were praised for meeting with students, while others were criticized for not doing so. Commenters also requested that the board host more local listening sessions and that members hold individual meetings across the county to hear constituents’ concerns.

For now, no policy changes, motions, or votes appear in the meeting record on the ICE requests; community members said they expect follow-up and will continue advocacy.

Ending — Community members and students said they will continue to press the board for a public statement and policy changes; the board’s official agenda and minutes indicate no formal action on those demands at this meeting.