Long before ‘Ice, Ice, Baby,’ this was the quintessential song:

What a field day we could have with the lyrics! But this piece is about the legal advice recently given to principals in my local school district, Duval County Public Schools (FL), and while this post may embarrass them, which the Board is turning into a fireable offense, I am retired and beyond their reach.

What should school officials do if ICE agents (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) show up at the door demanding access to students?

The legal department issued a memo that outlined the approach school employees should take: ICE agents are law enforcement officers; therefore they should be accommodated no different than what the school system would do for JSO (Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office) officers.

• Allow them to come onto school property. They do not need a warrant.
• If they ask to speak to a specific student, accommodate them but remember to notify the student’s parents immediately, stay with the student until the parents arrive, and remain present during the interview.
• If they ask to speak to a group of students, call the legal department.
• If they ask for access to student records, protect student rights. Call the legal department.
• Do not give an exclusive listing of ELL/ESOL students. Any requests must include all students whose parents have not opted out of public directory listings.

Soooooooooooooooooooo, pretty much, go into a CYA approach and notify the legal department. There are no assurances about what actions they will or will not take.

To date, we are reassured, there has been no ICE activity in our county’s schools. But if you think that Stephen Miller and his minions haven’t figured out the schools are a weak point when it comes to resisting unlawful enforcement of immigration laws, we still have some worthless Florida swamp land for sale.

As with the tariffs, even the threat of ICE action has a detrimental effect. Canadians have pulled American imports off their store shelves as they refuse to purchase them. If you want a historical parallel, think back to 1983 when the Soviets shot down a South Korean plane that strayed over Sakhalin Island and, in response, American bars poured their stocks of Stolischnaya vodka down the sink.

Teachers across the land are reporting that some students have stopped coming to school out of fear of ICE arrest or detention or that while at school, their parents will be taken and they will come home to an empty house. (I’d love to show social media screenshots or cite sources, but well, you know that in cases like these anonymity is best. Do your own research if you don’t trust me.)

Is it time to cue the biennial NAEP hysteria about falling test scores and American students falling behind? It’s hard for children to learn when they don’t feel safe. Since January 20, there have been mistakes including challenging the citizenship of Puerto Ricans on the mainland because they were overheard speaking Spanish. But we are told that “there are no free passes anymore.”

It’s not a new problem. We are hearing about ICE deporting U.S. citizens, but this has been happening for a while. “Oops, my bad,” is not sufficient for getting this wrong. What child carries a copy of their immigration papers daily into school just in case? Are we becoming Soviet Russia, where every one of us has to carry an internal passport to leave our houses?

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me; hinder them not for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.”

What would he say today? Perhaps this: “You’re as cold as ice, you’re willing to sacrifice our love. You never take advice, someday you’ll pay the price, I know. I’ve seen it before …”

Someday we’ll pay. It begins with the children. What’s missing in that DCPS memo is what the principal should do when ICE says this child is illegally in the United States and we’re taking them with us. But hey, call legal.

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Addendum: Since the original publication of this post, more has been learned:

Update #1: Duval County School Board attorney explains his rationale.

Update #2: Six Central Florida school districts have issued their own policies.