Education leaders say California students and families are being harmed as a result of President Donald Trump’s immigration efforts and his decision to deploy the National Guard to quell anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.

On Friday, June 6, federal immigration authorities conducted workplace raids in Los Angeles, resulting in more than 40 individuals being detained. Later that day and on Saturday, protesters arrived at locations in Los Angeles and in Paramount, leading to confrontations with local police that included the use of tear gas and rubber bullets. Some protesters threw fireworks at law enforcement and set cars on fire, although local officials characterized the demonstrations as mostly peaceful.

By Saturday evening, Trump announced he was deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to stop what he characterized as “violent, insurrectionist mobs” — without the consent of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond called the militarized response unnecessary and “deeply dangerous for our children, for our families and for our country.” “Let’s be clear: When the president targets our immigrant families, he harms California’s children,” Thurmond said in a statement. “About half of all children in our state have at least one immigrant parent. One in five children in California are in mixed-status families, meaning that they have parents who have different immigration statuses from each other.”

Thurmond said the use of flash-bang grenades caused one nearby LAUSD school to be placed in lockdown. He cited another incident where a fourth grader in Torrance USD was detained and sent to Texas after attending a hearing with his father.

“Our children deserve to be protected and cared for, not terrified at school or ripped from their families,” he said.

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in a June 9 press conference that the immigration enforcement actions are acts of intimidation that instill fear in immigrant communities.

“At Los Angeles Unified we have the commitment to protect the rights, the opportunities for every single child, every one of our workforce members and the families we serve — no questions asked,” he said. “We do so with courageous determination, and for those who doubt it ... we stand strongly on the right side of law.”

Carvalho also stated that federal vans that have been spotted within blocks of LAUSD schools. While no action has been taken, he said activities like these are designed to cause families to self-deport.

“That is not the community we want to be. That is not the state or the nation that we ought to be,” Carvalho said. “In fact, if those who believe that is the nation we should become, let’s rearrange Lady Liberty. Let’s bring that arm down and extinguish that flame, for we’re no longer the light for the world.”

The immigration enforcement coincided with graduations, stoking fears that ceremonies may be targeted by ICE agents. Districts in the Los Angeles area sent notices to reassure families, citing board policies that prevent schools from sharing immigration status or allowing ICE on school grounds without proper consent.