Wealthy Maryland school district PTA trains parents in how to disrupt ICE enforcement operations

Parent Teacher Association officials in one of the wealthiest school districts in the country hosted a training session last month instructing families on how to respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity.The virtual PTA session in Montgomery County, Maryland, was held on Jan.20 and was headed by Councilwoman Kristin Mink.

The meeting was titled “ICE Response & Organizing Tools for PTAs, Parents & Guardians.” According to the National Review, Mink has previously hosted multiple sessions on ways schools can equip themselves with “tools to slow ICE down and protect each other.” The training guided parents on how to escort students with illegal immigrant parents, and encouraged volunteers to monitor ICE activity during drop‑off and pickup, and introduced ways to support families affected by ICE arrests and deportations.During the session, Mink reportedly presented comprehensive “rapid response” guidance she had created and shared publicly three days earlier. In one slide, Mink outlined how “White allies” could assist and support the community, advising them not to use whistles to counter “ICE violence,” which has become a widespread form of community resistance.She argued that White individuals should avoid using a tool that, in her view, reinforces authority associated with Whiteness.“Especially for White allies, whistles can represent a subconscious desire for authority, protection, or control in moments of crisis,” the slide said. “But rapid response is not about assuming authority.

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.When we question decisions made by those impacted, we risk centering our own comfort instead of impacted people.”She added that “What feels ‘activating’ or empowering to some can cause stress to others,” noting that “Black and Brown communities are already overexposed to chronic noise pollution due to racist zoning, redlining, and disinvestment.”She further addressed, in the slide, how certain characteristic...