Deportation fears fuel school withdrawals

IRVING, Texas, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- An Irving, Texas, school superintendent says immigrant parents who are in danger of deportation are pulling their children from public schools.

Irving Independent School District Superintendent Jack Singley said an estimated 90 children of immigrants have been withdrawn from the school system in the past week due to increased fears of deportation in the city, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

The fears were sparked by a police program that works with federal authorities to identify, arrest and deport illegal immigrants. The program has led the Mexican Consulate to warn Mexican citizens to stay away from Irving.

"My concern is that some of them won't put those children in school anywhere because they're on the run," Singley said. "They get this notion that someone is going to actually come to school and snatch their children."

The school district has scheduled a Friday meeting of guidance counselors to discuss the development of a plan to convince students and their parents the schools are safe places for the children, despite whatever their family's immigration status may be.