Washington – California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff gave Trump administration officials until May 2 to answer questions about why federal agents tried to talk to students in two primary schools in Los Angeles last week.
The National Security Department said the agents were carrying out “well -being controls” to the students. But Padilla and Schiff, In a letter on FridayHe said the actions “terrified hundreds of thousands of students in Los Angeles and undermine public trust.”
The letter is aimed at the interim executive associate director Robert Hammer or National Security Research, an immigration arm and customs compliance with the United States. The senators requested an informative session on the nature, scale and objectives of well -being controls, as well as policies and protocols surrounding children’s controls.
The letter detailed that senators want to know that the department manages problems, including officers training, coordination with victims services and Wheter agents, contacted children’s lawyers before personal visits.
“We do not understand why, if he obtained evidence that he led him to believe that these children were in danger, his agency has not carried out a derivation to the California Social Services Department and did not coordinate with the school before the concerns of or -o -bebeking,” the senators wrote.
Democrats from the House of Representatives, led by representative Robert García (D-Long Beach) also They sent a letter to national security officials Monday demanding an informative session about the operation.
The federal agents appeared on April 7 without prior notice and without a court order in Russell Elementary and Lillian Street Elementary in the neighborhood of Florence-Graham in southern Los Angeles. They asked to speak with five students collectively, ranging from first -degree students to sixth grade students. But the directors of the school denied access.
According to the Unifife Supt. Alberto Carvalho, the agents falsely affirmed that the students of the students had given permission for contact. The agents identified themselves as with national security investigations.
A Lausd spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the Senators Charter.
Tricia McLaughlin, undersecretary of the Department of National Security, told The Times that the agents made sure that the children who arrived without accompaniment at the border “are safe and were not exploited, abused and of sexual trafficking.”
“Any statement that the song of the officers is false,” he said before. “Our application of the law was clearly identified and made it clear that this was a verification of well -being and not an action of application of immigration.”
When asked to comment on the Senate Charter, McLaughlin said: “The vilipendance of our police must stop.”
With this week with Immigration and Customs Research Officials and National Security. It seems that they left with more questions than answers.
According to their letter, Padilla and Schiff request information on whether the agents have arrested, detained or deported to any formally not accompanied child or their sponsors in relation to the well -being verifications in California and throughout the country. Also because to know what steps, the application of immigration and customs is a bar to address the behavior of its agents, including the breakdown of why they cancel about receiving permission to talk to children.
“These types of children of ‘welfare controls’ are children and their relatives, instead of promoting their safety,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to finish any effort to carry out ‘well -being controls’ in the school facilities and to ensure that ICE agents do not try to visit or enter schools without a court order.”
