Sacramento Schools Push for ICE Activity Alerts

Families at Sacramento City Unified schools should ask how their school will be notified about nearby immigration enforcement.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Administration

Sacramento Schools Push for ICE Activity Alerts

Live Poll

Should local police notify schools when immigration agents are operating nearby?

Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Cancy McArn asked city officials to meet about strengthening communication on ICE activity near schools. Separately, City Manager Maraskeshia Smith issued a directive, effective immediately, that police will not be dispatched to assist ICE agents solely because people are observing or recording their operations.

Why it matters

Families in Sacramento schools are reporting fear and uncertainty after ICE agents were seen near Ethel Phillips Elementary during afterschool pickup, and district leaders say they lack the information needed to keep students safe. City attorneys have warned that notifying school officials could be read as interfering with federal immigration enforcement, which is why the question remains unsettled.

The district's safe haven policy dates to 2017, and the requested meeting would bring together the city manager, mayor, interim police chief, and several council members. Councilmember Lisa Kaplan has already set up an informal system that passes community-confirmed ICE sightings to school officials in four other districts and local charter schools.

The players

Sacramento City Unified School District

The public school district serving Sacramento, which adopted a safe haven policy in 2017 and has been pressing city officials for communication about ICE activity near its schools.

Cancy McArn

Superintendent of Sacramento City Unified School District who requested the meeting with city officials, citing family fear and a lack of communication.

Maraskeshia Smith

Sacramento City Manager who received the district's meeting request and issued the directive limiting police dispatch to assist ICE agents.

Kevin McCarty

Mayor of Sacramento who was named as a proposed attendee at the requested meeting and who suggested a notification policy was unlikely.

Lisa Kaplan

Sacramento City Councilmember who set up an informal system for passing community-confirmed ICE sightings to school officials in four other districts and charter schools.

The details

Superintendent McArn sent a letter to City Manager Smith asking for a sit-down on communication about immigration enforcement near campuses. School board trustees had made the same request at a recent City Council meeting, asking to be told when Sacramento police learn of enforcement activity near schools. Under Kaplan's current arrangement, community groups confirm sightings and pass them to her, and she forwards them to school officials. Smith's directive separately bars officers from assisting ICE agents solely because people are following, observing, or recording those agents.

Mayor McCarty suggested a notification policy was unlikely at the State of the City address on Thursday.
School trustees addressed the City Council last week about ICE activity near Ethel Phillips Elementary.
Superintendent McArn sent her meeting request letter on Friday.
Smith's directive on police dispatch took effect immediately.

The Home Front

The 2017 safe haven policy set the district's protective stance toward immigrant families, and this dispute tests how far that commitment reaches into city police practice. Councilmember Kaplan's informal notification network is the closest local precedent for sharing enforcement sightings with school districts.

If your child attends a Sacramento City Unified school, ask the school office how it will notify families about nearby immigration enforcement and keep current emergency contacts on file. Families who want a plan can also ask their school about its safe haven resources and pickup procedures.

The takeaway

School communication about immigration enforcement is still being worked out in Sacramento, so families should confirm with their school how and when they will be informed. Keeping your school's contact information and pickup plan current is a simple step while the policy question is settled.