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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by High School Student and Youth Leader from Make the Road New York and Urban Youth Collaborative

7:05:11

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A high school sophomore from Staten Island testified about the anxiety and fear caused by the presence of school police and ICE agents near schools. She emphasized the need for mental health support and restorative justice in schools instead of policing.

Called for a hiring freeze on school police positions and reallocation of funds to restorative justice, social workers, and mental health support
Shared personal experiences of ICE presence near schools in Staten Island causing fear among immigrant students and families
Argued that true safety in schools comes from care and protection, not from police or ICE presence

High School Student

7:05:11

Okay.

7:05:12

Hello.

7:05:13

My name is Erica.

7:05:14

My pronouns are sheher.

7:05:15

I am sophomore in high school.

Justin Brannan

7:05:16

Just bring bring the mic a little closer so we

Jai Nanda

7:05:18

can hear Bye bye.

High School Student

7:05:21

Hello.

7:05:22

My name is Erica.

7:05:22

My pronouns are she her.

7:05:24

I am a sophomore in high school in Staten Island.

7:05:26

I am a youth leader with Make the Road New York and the Urban Youth Collaborative.

7:05:31

I am here today because students shouldn't have to go to school with the anxiety of potentially having an encounter with the school police.

7:05:41

There are many different ways to address a situation and I don't think that getting arrested or hurt by a cop in school should be one of them.

7:05:53

Immigrant students and their families are already facing so much uncertainty and fear with an increase of the presence of ICE in their communities and the call for the mass deportations.

7:06:07

Families are afraid to send their kids to school.

7:06:11

Students should not walk into schools feeling the same fear because the first people they see are police.

7:06:20

I have friends and family members that are immigrants over the past couple of weeks.

7:06:25

We have seen ICE agents and vehicles around the schools in Staten Island.

7:06:30

There was a lockdown during school one day due to the incident involving a student.

7:06:37

A lot of my peers were unaware and assumed the lockdown had to do with ICE, given that they were seen driving by the school earlier that day.

7:06:47

As you can imagine, a lot of the young people were worried about what would happen and even let each other know what they were that they were seeing around the school.

7:06:59

When they talk about the we talk about the impact of ICE, we cannot leave out school cops of the conversation because they both can't and have harmed students.

7:07:15

What we truly need is mental health support in schools and restorative justice.

7:07:20

We must secure a hiring freeze cut funding for the vacant school cut positions and reinvest money for baseline funding for restorative justice, social workers, guidance counselors, and mental health support.

7:07:35

True safety comes from caring for and protecting each other, and that doesn't include police nor ICE.

7:07:43

Youth people deserve to feel safe in schools, not discriminated against.

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Testimony by High School Student and Youth Leader from Make the Road New York and Urban Youth Collaborative