The new school year in Southern California has begun under extraordinary and deeply ominous circumstances. Within days of students returning to classrooms, federal immigration agents have carried out aggressive operations at and near public schools, targeting students and their families. At least ten documented cases near Los Angeles and San Diego schools have taken place since classes resumed.

The raids in Southern California are only one front in a nationwide campaign, building on last year’s arrests of dozens of arrests of students, parents and teachers in schools across the country.