GUHSD board rejects Fite’s resolution to protect students from ICE agents

By Alexander J. Schorr

Screenshot: Student Board Trustee Sage Larson and Board Trustee Chris Fite

November 14, 2025 (El Cajon) — The conservative board majority of the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) last night rejected a resolution proposed by Trustee Chris Fite that would have offered protection to vulnerable students and their families facing the looming presence of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) on school campuses.  The motion died without a second.

Fite’s Resolution

Fite, who represents Area 1, is a retired teacher who was reelected in November 2024. His proposed resolution, GUHSD as a welcoming district for all students, would have:

• prohibited school staff from assisting ICE or allowing ICE access to district facilities without a warrant;
• provided resources and training to teachers, administrators and staff on immigration issues including how to respond to requests from immigration officers to visit a school or access a student;
• required all visitors including immigration officers to register upon entering school grounds and provide their proof of identity;
• required that a student’s parent/guardian be notified immediately if an immigration officer seeks access, unless a warrant prohibits disclosure;
• prohibited staff from collecting citizenship or immigration status of students;
• required staff to report presence of any immigration enforcement officers to campus police and administrators;
• provided resources for families, a website and hotline on immigration issues;
• required the district to advocate at state and federal levels to support Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students, temporary protective status and refugee resettlement programs, and to oppose policies that erode civil rights protections.

Fite is known for proposing resolutions aimed at generating safe and welcoming environments for all students and staff— specifically rejecting discrimination and harassment. Fite’s proposed resolutions have specifically addressed support for students with varying immigration statuses, ensuring that the district adheres to California law AB 49, which mandates that GUHSD will not cooperate with US immigration and Customs (ICE) without a legal warrant.

The proposed resolution and existing state law are intended to ensure that schools remain safer environments for all students, regardless of their families’ immigration status, and to curb fear of detainment or deportation.

News reports from related San Diego-area districts mention that there have been no confirmed reports of ICE presence on their campuses since proactive policies were put in place, suggesting a general environment of non-cooperation with ICE without legal mandates, at least at this time.

GUHSD encompasses 17 schools in East County and serves over 22,000 students, with 44.4% of which are Latino or Hispanic.

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security has been awarded $170 billion in funds by the “big, beautiful, bill,” with US taxpayer dollars being funneled towards the harassment, terrorizing, and deportation of US citizens and immigrants.

While some schools are doing what they may to offer protection to students, the GUHSD governing board failed to second Trustee Fite’s suggestion, ultimately terminating his proposed resolution.

Screenshot, right: Alexander Kraft, a local El Cajon community organizer and Union leader

Community members in the audience were not satisfied with the board’s decision to reject Fite’s resolution to protect children in school from ICE regardless of their immigration status.

David Dann, a father of three students at GUHSD, expressed his concerns. “Their mother is an immigrant,” he said. He stated that ICE is racially profiling people, and voiced concern that the district “has no plan” for when ICE comes to check on his family. He said the resolution was “something we could all get behind.”

Ilka Weston, a longtime homelessness activist, emphasized that “letting ICE agents onto campus or even near our schools is equivalent to a shooter. We’re supposed to respect law-enforcement, and right now what is going on with the ICE agents is causing fear and PTSD with students, as well as parents because of their children.”

While this a broader issue that has also embroiled the City of El Cajon in its controversial resolution on police cooperation with ICE, the controversy has connections to GUHSD governing board’s conservative majority. The lack of transparency with the ALPR data aligns with a pattern of behavior from the GUHSD board majority, which includes its board president, Gary Woods. The board has been criticized for secrecy, allegedly running ghost candidates, retaliations against employees, restrictions on speech, discrimination based on race, creed, and orientation, as well as alleged violations of California’s Brown Act for privately discussing district business.

On the governing board’s questionable commitment to transparency and public safety, “This board has just been acting with impunity,” said Alexander Kraft, a candidate for the 2026 El Cajon Mayor. “There hasn’t been a whole lot of scrutiny on politics in East County, there’s been this assumption that it's just this right-wing stronghold— the Democrats have essentially abandoned it, and people like this who have been here since the ‘90s, have been getting away with doing whatever they want to do for a very long time because nobody thought that there was any way of doing anything about it. The fact of the matter is, that is simply not true.”

The Changes with Immigration Policy

Recent federal immigration changes have been extensive, and largely stem from new executive actions in 2025 aimed at enforcing stricter enforcement, restricted legal pathways, and a comprehensive overhaul of existing policies:

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded the use of “expedited removal” nationwide, which allows for the rapid deportation of undocumented individuals who have been in the US for less than two years without a formal court hearing.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have increased, with a focus on interior enforcement and an expanded ability to operate in “sensitive locations” like schools and hospitals, which was previously restricted.
• A federal court order issued in November 2024 vacated the Biden-era parole process for certain noncitizen spouses of US citizens who have lived in the US for a decade or more. USCIS has ceased accepting new applications and processing pending ones for the program.
• DHS has implemented a $1,000 fee for individuals granted parole into or within the US.
• A presidential proclamation in October 2025 placed restrictions on the entry of certain H-1B nonimmigrant workers as an initial stem to change the visa program.
• The DHS has terminated the Changes to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for South Sudan and Venezuela, which now requires nationals to leave or face deportations after a grace period.
• A new rule requires some immigrants to register with the US government, which advocacy groups warn could target undocumented immigrants for deportation.
• Refugee Admission have been slashed: the annual limit for refugee admissions for fiscal year 2026 has been set at a record low of 7,500.
• From October 28, 2025, USICS will mandate electronic payments for all applications, and will no longer accept checks or money orders. A newer and stricter naturalization civics test is also being implemented.

GUHSD’s Role in Immigration

Several of these new policies are facing legal challenges: for example, a court has temporarily stayed the implementation of an annual asylum fee, with other lawsuits challenging the expansion of expedited removals and the end of birthright citizenship claims for children of noncitizens, even though the constitution guarantees this.

Previously, a KPBS investigation revealed that data from the El Cajon Police Department’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system has been included in the nationwide immigration-related searches more than 550 times in 2025. This data sharing has raised concerns because the GUHSD has not publicly discussed the use of these devices on school campuses. It is unclear if the district is among the many entities receiving the data from the police. However, there is currently no evidence that the GUHSD governing board is collaborating with ICE at this time.