By The Charger Account Editorial Board (Dos Pueblos High School)
Dos Pueblos High School is more than a campus — it is a community. We sit next to each other in class, cheer together on the sidelines, and collaborate on group projects. We are classmates. We are friends. We are family. We are the Chargers. And now we, The Charger Account editorial board, stand against the increase of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Across Santa Barbara County, including the surrounding areas of DPHS, every ICE sighting invokes fear and doubt about public safety.
Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown has publicly stated that he would not notify the community of the presence of ICE enforcement, and we call on him for specific clarification of what local law enforcement’s role is when it comes to ICE in our community.
Our community should feel protected from, not intimidated by, ICE activity. We need to know that local law enforcement can ensure due process and protect our community’s civil rights.
School should be a place of learning and stability, not uncertainty. We stand with our classmates who fear ICE. We stand with their families. And we condemn the actions of ICE that make our community feel unsafe.
We have parents who call DPHS in tears from the fear of local ICE activity. We have friends who miss class because they are afraid to leave their homes. We have watched cultural celebrations, such as Día de los Muertos, being canceled because the gathering feels unsafe. When ICE dictates whether students feel secure enough to attend school, something has gone deeply wrong.
Our community has chosen to stand up. On Jan. 20, a group of DPHS students participated in the National Free America Walkout, leaving their classrooms to gather in solidarity and demand humanity and safety for immigrant families. Their participation showed that this issue is directly affecting the well-being of DPHS students.
Attention often spikes only when violence from ICE makes headlines, but for many families, fear has been a daily reality long before cameras arrive. Human dignity, namely the right to feel safe at school and at home, should not depend on visibility. We cannot choose when to care.
Protecting students should always come before politics. We should be able to depend on the sheriff’s department to protect our community, and not stand by while ICE pepper-sprays our residents. DPHS students and the wider Goleta community deserve to know if we can count on Goleta law enforcement to protect our peers. The community shouldn’t have to question what the sheriff’s department’s role is if ICE orders violent actions here, like they have been doing in Minnesota.
We support the steps our school and state have taken to limit immigration enforcement on campuses and create safety plans, from California Senate Bill 98, which requires schools to notify staff, students, and families of confirmed enforcement activity on campus, to the work of our Family Engagement Liaison, Gloria Rodriguez, who connects families with resources and educates students on their rights. But policies alone are not enough. What matters most is solidarity — showing up for one another, staying informed, and refusing to normalize fear as part of daily life.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Charger Account of Dos Pueblos High School. See the original here.
