Berkowitz and Bishop: Anchorage Schools Will Not Monitor Student’s Immigration Status

 

In the wake of a national uproar over Pres. Donald Trump’s  executive actions on immigration and refugees, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Anchorage School District Superintendant Deena Bishop jointly released the following statement Friday afternoon clarifying the school district’s policy towards checking the immigration status of children in Anchorage schools:

The letter is clear that children attending Anchorage schools and their families will not have the legality of their residency status checked or monitored by school district employees.

It is the latest move from the Berkowitz administration to make clear his administration does not support the Trump Administration’s efforts while rebuffing calls from progressive activists to go further and declare Anchorage a “sanctuary city.”

This sets the stage for tomorrow night’s Anchorage Assembly meeting.  One group of progressive activists calling themselves the Anchorage General Assembly has been organizing to show up to that meeting and pressure the Assembly and Berkowitz to formally declare Anchorage a sanctuary city and demand the Muni put in writing a policy that Anchorage police will not check on citizen’s immigration status or work with federal law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal immigrants and their families.