The nature of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as of late has been criminal, extreme, and violent. ICE is an organization known to use force, violence, and unlawful means to detain people who they deem not to be citizens based on race, prejudice, and not due process. ICE agents have shot, beaten, and teargassed protestors, sent already naturalized citizens to detention centers, and wrongfully detained native-born U.S. civilians. They have been indiscriminate in applying what they feel is just and necessary to the point that their self-interest interferes with their role as a public servant. This organization has demonstrated illegal conduct against our nation’s Constitution time and time again, yet, federal and regional courts alike have avoided charging ICE agents for fear of creating noncompliance with the rest of our government—creating an image that these agents are above the laws that make this nation a staple democracy. 

The Sarasota County School Board has decided to put to vote a resolution affirming this behavior on school grounds. Federal authorities should not have the right to hinder public, mandatory education without probable cause or due process of the law for purposes of violence. By proposing this resolution, the board is forcefully propagating a hateful agenda on public premises.

We, the people of Sarasota County, would like to fight against this consistent trend of ICE agents defying the Rule of Law. We do not wish to have criminal agents on the premises of our public schools. We do not wish for children to be separated from parents without due process of law. We do not wish for our school board to represent the beliefs of this unmetered and corrupt organization. We are here to show them that we are not scared. We are here to ask our educational committee to represent and prioritize justice; not prioritizing loyalty to a government inspiring hatred.

For these reasons, join us in petitioning to keep our schools safe.