Two schools in West Oakland and concerned neighbors were on alert Wednesday after an immigration enforcement operation appeared to have led to a car crash near the campuses.
Though the schools followed the district’s “secure protocol” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, the Oakland Unified School District and Alameda County’s rapid response network said the sites were not targeted by ICE and remained safe.
Here’s what we know, and don’t know, about the incident.
According to the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership, federal immigration officers were conducting targeted enforcement activity in the area on Wednesday morning when a vehicle crashed.
The crash happened just before 10 a.m. on the 800 block of 31st Street as “an outside law enforcement agency was conducting an investigation within the City of Oakland,” according to the Oakland Police Department, which is investigating the collision.
The outside agency — presumed to be ICE — was trying to contact a vehicle involved in its case, Oakland police said. That vehicle collided with another vehicle, which was not involved in the operation.
Councilmember Carroll Fife said in a video on social media that the crash happened as a parent dropping their child off at school was “chased by masked men” believed to be ICE officers.
Monique Berlanga, who heads Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, said the collision scared people in the neighborhood, where there are multiple OUSD campuses.
The district said in a message to parents on Wednesday that it placed Hoover Elementary School and Harriet Tubman Child Development Center under its secure school protocol after hearing reports of ICE activity in their vicinity.
“Your child is safe in school,” the message continued, adding that other campuses were following standard protocol for ICE activity.
Berlanga said the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership got reports that staff at Hoover questioned the officers and asked them to identify themselves, but that they had not been able to confirm what agency they were with. She said the network had no reason to believe that either school was the target of enforcement activity.
“It appears likely that this was targeted ICE enforcement nearby the school, which may have been related to a collision nearby,” she said.
Still, the incident rattled community members and sparked a protest of about 50 people, including Oakland teachers and teachers union staff, outside Hoover in the late morning.
They told KQED they were gathered to support families and school staff if there was increased ICE presence, especially around pickup time.
Olivia Udovic, a kindergarten teacher and Oakland Education Association officer, said principals were driving some students home from school.
Oakland police said their investigation into the crash is ongoing, and they did not specify which outside law enforcement agency was involved.
OUSD said it had heard reports of ICE presence in other Oakland neighborhoods, including between 71st and 81st avenues and International Boulevard, but those had not been confirmed. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fife said that after the collision, neighbors surrounded the immigration officials’ vehicle and prevented them from making any arrest, though that has not been confirmed. Berlanga said ACILEP was still determining whether the morning’s enforcement activity had led to any arrests.
Mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement that her office was in communication with the school district and police about the reports.
“I want to reiterate to our immigrant community: Oakland stands firmly with you — this is who we are and what we believe. You are not alone, and we will not be intimidated by federal operations designed to create fear and division,” she wrote.
KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this report.
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