Chang, Boston Public Schools sued over secrecy surrounding student information sharing with ICE

James Vaznis:

Several civil rights and student advocacy organizations, alarmed that a school incident report helped lead to a student’s deportation, filed a lawsuit Thursday against Superintendent Tommy Chang after Boston school officials repeatedly refused to disclose how often they give student information to federal immigration authorities.

The groups, which include the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, have tried unsuccessfully for several months to find out how frequently the school system shares student information with federal authorities, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“As federal deportation efforts intensify, the question of how and under what circumstances public schools are providing information to the US Department of Homeland Security [and] Immigration and Customs Enforcement has become even more crucial,” the suit said. “The threats to students and their families are real.”