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Community leaders address concerns of area’s immigrants

Message of unity to ease worries

By Lauren Dake, Columbian Political Writer
Published: March 9, 2017, 9:38pm

Southwest Washington community and civic leaders addressed the fear and anxiety pulsing through the region’s immigrant population and promised their support.

Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt sent a defiant message on Thursday to leaders who support the current administration’s policies on immigration and to those who decline to condemn President Donald Trump’s action by not speaking up.

“Both the actions and the rhetoric coming from some of those in Washington, D.C. are, at best, alarming,” Leavitt said. “In fact, I submit to you what is really the obvious — and that is in many respects the principles and values that formed the basis for the creation of the United States of America are under assault right now.”

The event was sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens and featured speakers from Evergreen and Vancouver school districts, from Clark College and Washington State University Vancouver to an official from the NAACP. The message from all the leaders was one of support and unity and a promise to protect the region’s immigrant community.

Chris Sutter, the assistant police chief with Vancouver Police Department, said his department’s policies have not changed. Sutter said he doesn’t want anyone who may be a victim of a crime to avoid or fear contact with the police department.

Sutter said the department cannot “effectively protect our most vulnerable victims of violent crimes or even lesser crimes when they are afraid to make contact” with the police department.

His officers do not stop, detain or question people about their immigration status. It’s not a reason for probable cause, he said.

Evergreen Public Schools Superintendent John Deeder said some of his students come to school afraid and are worried that when they go home, they might not have a parent there waiting for them. Next week, the school district plans to send a resolution to all parents stating schools are a sensitive, protected place.

“And we do not need immigration or legal enforcement coming into our schools for any reason,” Deeder said. “It disrupts the learning environment and the safety of our students and staff.”

Vancouver Public Schools Superintendent Steve Webb issued a similar statement to parents in his district on Wednesday.

Diana Perez, with LULAC, said the ongoing efforts to “demonize the immigrant community” has increased hate crimes.

“I say to all of you who feel like you have no voice or place in this movement, do not be afraid,” Perez said. “You are not alone, we are all here for you and for each other.”

Rights workshop

LULAC, as well as organizations including OneAmerica and the Clark County Latino Youth Conference, continued their public outreach Thursday evening with an immigrant families workshop at Evergreen Public Schools. More than 100 people, many of them young children, crowded into the administrative offices at the district to hear a series of speakers explain what rights immigrants have and how make safety and financial plans should immigration officials come calling.

Advisers, including an immigration attorney, reminded those in the room that they have a right to remain silent, as well as to call an immigration attorney if they are detained or contacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Evergreen Deputy Superintendent John Steach said through a Spanish interpreter that the school board will consider at Tuesday’s meeting adopting a resolution reiterating the district’s commitment to student safety.

Echoing similar language from Vancouver Public Schools’ letter issued to parents this week, Steach said immigration officials cannot come on campus, that law enforcement agents are not permitted to question students without a warrant and that the district does not nor can it track information on students’ immigration status.

“We will ensure the safety of your children because they are part of the future of our community,” he said.

The school board meets at 5:30 p.m. in the tan building of the administrative complex on 13501 N.E. 28th St., Vancouver.

Columbian reporter Katie Gillespie contributed to this report.

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Columbian Political Writer