US Border Patrol agents barred from Washington schools over concerns they could traumatize immigrant children

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The school district in Spokane, Washington voted unanimously to ban U.S. Border Patrol agents from entering schools, saying that it could be traumatizing for immigrant students.

The movement to bar U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) personnel from the classrooms came after members of Latinos En Spokane, an advocacy group that supports the Latino community, said that immigrants seeing Border Patrol agents in their school could be traumatizing. 

“They could be targeted as immigrants, because they have an accent, or if they’re asked something about their parents, you know, that could be a stressful situation,” Jennyfer Mesa, executive director of Latinos In Spokane, told the Spokane Review.

“These fears, these stressors create post-traumatic stress disorder in students and families who have had the experience, whether it’s a family separation or concerns about another member of the family.”

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The Spokane School Board unanimously revised its policy barring Border Patrol access to schools. (Getty Images)

The revision served as a clarification to existing policy, Spokane Public Schools officials confirmed with the local outlet.

“It’s to clarify and make it just very clear that Border Patrol should not be in our schools,” school board member Nikki Otero Lockwood said.

The board made the revision to all public schools on Wednesday and reviewed a 780-signature petition in support of banning the agency from public schools. 

The board also approved new additions including, that staff will not “collaborate with immigration enforcement agencies or share information that could put a student’s security at risk.”

The policy also bars immigration agents as guest speakers in a classroom, Lockwood said.

America has been sharply divided in recent years over what ideology does or does not belong in the classroom. (Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a statement following the decision, Chief Patrol Agent Lloyd Easterling of the Spokane Sector for the U.S. Border Patrol called the decision to bar agents “unfortunate.”

“It is unfortunate that the Spokane Public Schools Board has taken this stance against Customs and Border Protection,” Easterling wrote in a X post. “When agents and officers attend events at schools they are merely there for educational purposes, at the invitation of the school, and not to conduct immigration enforcement activities.”

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Easterling argued that having CBP personnel created a safer school environment.

“Agents and officers from CBP attend countless events at schools throughout the nation – without controversy. CBP personnel work tirelessly day in and day out to protect our nation from a variety of threats to include terrorists and dangerous narcotics. CBP routinely honors requests from local law enforcement agencies to assist in life-threatening situations, including active shooter incidents at schools.”

Washington DC, USA – September 14, 2018: Sign above the entrance to the US Customs and Border Protection building  on 14th Street (iStock)

The patrol agent said that the Spokane Public School’s decision to bar CBP personnel is “disheartening and makes the community less safe.”

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“Our officers and agents are active members of their communities and have children who attend the local schools,” Easterling said. “The fact the school board has taken this position of intolerance against a law enforcement agency is disheartening and makes the community less safe.”

The U.S. Customs and Borders Protection and the Spokane School District did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

She is a native of Massachusetts and is based in Orlando, Florida.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.