The San Francisco school district sent parents a phone alert promising 'safe space' for immigrant children
The message seems to be a response to the election of Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to crack down on illegal immigration, including building a border wall between the US and Mexico.
Earlier this month, Trump pledged to deport 2 to 3 million immigrants living in the country illegally as soon as he takes office in January.
San Francisco has pledged not to cooperate with federal officials in finding and deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, although there are exceptions for immigrants with serious and violent felony convictions. A city supervisor, David Campos, is set to introduce legislation setting aside $5 million to help pay for lawyers to represent people in deportation proceedings.
These messages are pretty rare - as a parent of children in the district, I receive two to three per year - and is most often used to notify parents of school closures or reported threats to student safety.
District representatives did not immediately return requests for comment.
Here's the message in its entirety:
"This is a message from the San Francisco Unified School District to let you know we are committed to providing a safe space for learning for each and every one of our students, including recent immigrants, regardless of immigration status. We will continue to uphold San Francisco sanctuary city for all immigrants. This week, your child's school will be distributing information with resources for immigrant families. We also invite you to visit our web site at www.sfusd.edu to find more information."