Immigration officials can't go on campus without a warrant or the principal's permission, and they can't get school records. But the Border Patrol last month came as close to the schools as they could without violating the law. Area residents said immigration officials stationed a van in a market parking lot just a few yards from Mountain View Elementary School, near Peoria and 15th avenues. Five Mexican nationals were arrested in the area near the school. There's no van in the lot now, but the effects linger.
Families are afraid to go outside.
The parks are empty. More importantly, many children are staying away from school. Mountain View social worker Sandra Wiley said some classrooms are missing as many as one-third of their students, even though she has gone to residents' homes trying to persuade parents that the schools are safe. While the roundup near Mountain View was smaller, Hispanic parents are drawing comparisons to the Border Patrol raids in Chandler 18 months ago that snared 432 illegal immigrants, shook the Hispanic community and launched protests nationwide. Many U.S.-born Hispanics were stopped during that raid, resulting in a lawsuit against the city.