By Dr. César Morales, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools
Imagine the terror a child feels when the school bell rings, and no one arrives to pick them up. Then comes the trauma of finding out their parents have been detained and aren’t coming home. This is one of the heart-wrenching realities that increased immigration enforcement is having here in Ventura County.
With the 2025-2026 academic year approaching, Ventura County schools remain steadfast in their commitment to providing learning environments where all students feel welcome, valued, and safe. It’s important to remember that both state and federal laws give all children the right to attend public school regardless of their immigration status. School officials do not ask if students are documented and will not release students’ personal information without a court order or judicial subpoena. In addition, they require all visitors to check in at the school office and will not permit immigration officers on campus without a valid judicial warrant.
Our hearts and support go out to the farm workers and their families who are being so severely impacted by the culture of anxiety and fear created by recent federal raids. We encourage our school communities and everyone in Ventura County to come together to ensure the safety of students as they return to class. Many of our neighbors are frightened and stressed, and we must use our voices and actions to ensure their safety and support one another as family.
Farm workers aren’t the only ones paying the price for the increasingly aggressive and indiscriminate actions that target migrant workers. The raids are creating trauma for their children and leaving school staff in a mad scramble to find safe places for students to go when their parents are detained. The loss of migrant labor is also disrupting the business of local farmers and leaving crops to rot in the fields – inevitably leading to higher prices in the grocery store.
The farm workers you see toiling in the fields are an integral part of our community and a vital component of our local economy. They are driven by the goal of building their own American dreams and creating a better life for their kids. For generations, Ventura County has witnessed the children of immigrant laborers excel in school, become the first in their families to attend college, and pursue a wide range of careers that strengthen our community. They are doctors and lawyers, teachers and police officers, mechanics and plumbers, and even elected officials, including your County Superintendent of Schools.
For so many people in Ventura County, this is intensely personal. Those of us who are the children of immigrants know firsthand the sacrifices our parents made so we could live the lives they deferred for themselves. Most Americans need only look back a few branches on their family trees to find brave relatives who risked it all to build a new life in a new land full of promise. It wasn’t long ago that immigrants from places like Germany, Ireland, and Italy faced discrimination and harassment for being unwelcome outsiders. Today, their descendants are woven into the fabric of our society, and we are a stronger nation because of it. It’s a similar story for more recent immigrants who come from other parts of the world but share the same hopes and dreams and have just as much to contribute.
Immigration enforcement that goes after serious criminals is one thing, but targeting hard-working people doing back-breaking work for little pay is something else entirely. While securing the border and overhauling our dysfunctional immigration system are worthy goals, I firmly believe that most Americans want to see it done humanely in a way that respects the dignity inherent in every human being. When immigration raids are more about political theater than finding real solutions, we all lose.
The time has come for all of us to ask ourselves what kind of society we want to live in. Will we choose anger and division or compassion and kindness? Will we ostracize people because of their differences, or embrace the diversity that has enriched Ventura County and the United States for generations? I know that I chose the latter, and I hope you will too.