The National Education Association held a webinar this month that instructed teachers on how to protect "undocumented" students from being deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The Daily Signal reported that the Jan. 17 presentation for members of America's largest teachers' union was part of a series of webinars that focused on preparing for President Donald Trump's second term.
Since his inauguration last week, Trump has launched a nationwide deportation operation for criminal illegal immigrants that he promised voters on the campaign trail.
During the webinar, NEA President Becky Pringle said that teachers have a "professional" and "moral obligation" to keep "our students safe" when "ICE comes into our schools or into our communities." Educators can do this by "making sure that you know your rights, you know how to protect your students, and that you know that this is that time," Pringle said, according to the Signal.
Lubna Alam of the NEA's Office of General Counsel urged teachers to push their school districts to adopt "safe zones resolutions that NEA has drafted" and assist in the "education of immigrant communities in your area."
School districts that have designated themselves as "safe zones" do not collect data on students' birth places and staff members pledge to keep "students safe, especially if, and when, Trump sends ICE into our communities," Alam said.
According to the Signal, hundreds of districts across the country have declared themselves to be safe zones.
"ICE cannot just come to school and look through student records, because they would need a subpoena to do so unless it's directory information," Alam said.
Families may not want to share information about their child's place of birth because they are fearful that the school might share that information with immigration authorities.
"When it comes to the directory information and this information that schools are collecting, it's important that the school district is not including place of birth information in their directory information and that they are informing families that they have the ability to opt out of directory information disclosure," Alam said.
The content of the NEA's presentation does not help an already fraught situation, Erika Sanzi, director of outreach for Parents Defending Education, told the Signal. Sanzi's group obtained the webinar materials and shared them with the news outlet.
"It's understandable that school staff is concerned for their students and their families but the NEA — including their General Counsel staff — is promoting falsehoods and hyper-partisan content," Sanzi said. "Hyperbole and lies do not help anyone, regardless of immigration status or political party."
Newsmax reached out to the National Education Association for comment but did not immediately hear back.