Dem Bill Would Flood Schools, Churches, Hospitals With Squatters

At the State of the Union address, congressional Democrats affirmed that they do not believe the government’s first duty is to protect U.S. citizens. When they all remained seated, it was a rare moment of honesty for a party that abandoned the best interests of Americans long ago.  

One need look no further for evidence than the fact that 30 Democrats are cosponsoring a bill to make schools and hospitals safe havens for illegal immigrants. Called the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (PSLA), the bill would prohibit any “immigration enforcement actions” within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare, playground, hospital, or doctor’s office.  

The PSLA would create a huge incentive for illegal immigrants to be present at places full of children, patients, and those responsible for caring for them. This makes it especially concerning that both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have thrown their support behind the policy. Students and patients would be less safe as illegal immigrants, beyond the reach of ICE, flood schools, hospitals, churches, and surrounding neighborhoods.  

The bill would also tie up law enforcement with needless red tape. The PSLA would create an impossible and ever-changing map of where ICE can and cannot carry out its mission. Especially in high-density urban centers, ICE officials would be forced to make decisions based not on what is best for public safety but instead on proximity to the nearest urgent care or preschool.  

The bill also turns public libraries, courthouses, and houses of worship into safe zones for illegal immigrants. Most egregiously, it also includes welfare offices and active sites of a “march, rally, or parade.” The bill’s supporters want to ensure no one stands in the way of illegal immigrants getting public benefits or rallying for leftist causes.  

If activists wanted to protect a group of illegal immigrants, all they’d need to do is protest within 1,000 feet of whomever they wanted to shield from arrest. With this policy in place, an untold number of “libraries” and “parades” would spring into existence. The PSLA would render ICE useless under the pretext of reform, allowing exceptions only for “exigent circumstances,” such as catching a suspect who is an imminent terror threat.  

The American public has already seen the harm that happens when illegal immigrants are near schools and childcare centers. Last November, ICE agents attempted to pull over a car carrying Diana Galeano, an illegal immigrant. The driver, also an illegal immigrant, ran into a daycare center where Galeano was employed and “barricaded himself inside,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. One could imagine the fear instilled in the children and their caregivers when confronted with a man running into their facility to avoid arrest.  

Earlier this month, a public school teacher in Savannah, Georgia, was reportedly killed by an illegal immigrant who was trying to evade a traffic stop. Dr. Linda Davis, a special education teacher, was likely on her way to school in the morning when a Guatemalan national allegedly plowed his car into hers, tragically ending her life.  

The dangers are real for students too. Last month, ICE arrested an illegal immigrant from Mexico after he allegedly threw a rock through a school bus window in New Jersey, fracturing a little girl’s skull. The third grader, who was returning from a field trip with her classmates, needed surgery to repair the damage.  

The risks to students and teachers don’t concern the nation’s two largest teacher unions. The National Education Association (NEA) is asking its 3 million members and the public to email their members of Congress through an online portal created specifically for this purpose. The form letter asks legislators to support and cosponsor the bill to help move it along in the legislative process.  

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), too, has publicly advocated for the PSLA. In her endorsement, AFT President Randi Weingarten said, “Schools and hospitals are supposed to be safe and welcoming places. We urge Congress to quickly pass the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act to reverse a policy that is both cruel and un-American.”   

Schools and hospitals must remain “safe and welcoming,” and that means free of criminals. And although not every illegal immigrant is dangerous, it should not fall to teachers, daycare providers, doctors, or nurses to figure out who is who. 

Union bosses support this reckless policy because they are more concerned with politics than with protecting teachers and students. Law enforcement should be allowed to protect sensitive locations, not forced to abandon them. 

Angela Morabito is the spokeswoman at the Defense of Freedom Institute, a former U.S. Department of Education press secretary, and a visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.