Activists raise alarm about ICE vehicles near Colina del Sol elementary school
A federal official acknowledged the vehicles near Ibarra Elementary were driven by ICE officers, but denied their operation involved the campus.
Dante Ulanday - News Moderator 
Two unmarked vehicles driven by immigration officers left the parking lot of Herbert Ibarra Elementary School Friday following a confrontation by “community patrols.”
The school’s principal, Valerie Jurado, said in a statement to families that although she was unaware of any affiliation between the vehicles and Immigration and Customs Enforcement or any other government agency, she acknowledged how the belief made people uneasy.
“We understand how unsettling this report is and we stand with our community in our desire for ALL our students to be in a safe learning environment,” Jurado wrote. “Our teachers and staff remain ready to support our students and ensure a day of calm and learning.”
Patrick Divver, field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Diego, acknowledged that the vehicles in the video were driven by ICE officers, but said they were not there for an operation involving the school.
“At no time did ICE conduct enforcement activity on school grounds, nor did any officer exit their vehicle while briefly in the parking lot. Any suggestion otherwise is completely false,” he told City News Service. “ICE San Diego officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the City Heights area when activists began harassing our officers. As a result, the officers pulled into the first available parking lot.”
He went on to criticize the observers, saying that “the interference of activists in law enforcement operations creates unnecessary risks to themselves, the community, and our officers.
He added that such actions “hinder our ability to remove individuals who pose a threat to public safety and contribute to misinformation that endangers everyone involved.”
Members of the San Diego Self-Defense Coalition, Union del Barrio and Association of Raza Educators responded to reports of the vehicles near the school, which is west of Colina del Sol Park, at around 6:40 a.m. on Friday, shouting warnings to nearby community members about a potential immigration action.
The groups planned to host a news conference outside the school to condemn ICE actions at schools.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement has continuously said they are not conducting immigration enforcement actions on school properties, and today’s actions contradict their statements,” the activist groups wrote in a joint statement. “We condemn the campaign of terror that has been unleashed in migrant working-class communities and the targeting of families with school aged children in and around school facilities.”
In her message to parents, Jurado reminded them that ICE officers are not allowed on campus without a signed warrant. The San Diego Unified School District has a dedicated webpage to explain student and family rights, regardless of immigration status.
“At this time, there is no indication of any enforcement activity on our campus, and all students and staff are safe,” Jurado wrote.
The activists are on alert because of recent actions near public school campuses.
On Wednesday, ICE arrested a man near Park Dale Lane Elementary School in Encinitas while on his way to work.
Encinitas Union School District officials confirmed that the man’s daughter is a student in the district.
“We are alarmed and disturbed by this event and its impact on children and families,” officials wrote in a letter from the district to families.
But in a written statement Thursday, an unidentified DHS official said that the arrest took place “multiple blocks away from and entirely out of view of Park Dale Elementary School.”
The man arrested was from Guatemala and an order of removal from an immigration judge had been in place for him since 2017, according to ICE.
“During the arrest, his spouse appeared at that scene and with a young child … and proceeded to involve herself and child in the situation,” the ICE statement added.
Earlier this month, ICE agents arrested two other parents – first outside Enrique S. Camarena Elementary School in Chula Vista and then near Linda Vista Elementary School, another SDUSD campus.
Cell phone footage captured by bystanders in Chula Vista and posted online showed federal agents approaching a vehicle on the street.
The arrest prompted Chula Vista Elementary School District Superintendent Eduardo Reyes to inform families and staff in a letter that “we understand this may cause concern, and we want to reassure you that our schools remain safe spaces for all students,” Reyes wrote.
SDUSD Superintendent Fabiola Bagula, at a news conference a day after the incident involving Linda Vista Elementary, expressed concerns about students there, who range in age from 3 to 11 years old. “This is traumatic,” she said.
