New Mexico middle school forced into lockdown TWICE in 8 days after illegal immigrants enter school premises
By lauraharris // 2024-04-09
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Santa Teresa Middle School in New Mexico has been forced into lockdown twice in just one week due to the presence of illegal immigrants on school premises.
The school is located approximately five miles from a gap in the border wall known as "The Anarpa Gap." It is also just around half a mile away from El Paso and the Rio Grande river. It is part of the Gadsden Independent School District (ISD).
The school experienced its first incident with illegals on March 20. That day, Principal Danielle Rodriguez activated the "rave panic button" feature within the K-12 school safety app to report suspicious activity after a group of illegal migrants entered the southern section of the campus.
School officials monitored the situation along with the Sunland Park Police Department while students and staff were advised to "get inside and lock outside doors." Rodriguez sent out a text message to the entire school community, while police authorities stationed two officers on campus to provide ongoing security measures.
"We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the U.S. Border Patrol agents and the officers of the Sunland Park Police Department for their swift and professional response to this situation," the district said after the incident. "Thanks to their efforts, the safety and security of our students and staff were maintained throughout the incident."
Not long after the incident, illegal immigrants were once again spotted in the campus on March 27. Six migrants were discovered outside the school premises trying to evade Border Patrol agents at the border. The school immediately initiated a lockdown to ensure the safety of students and staff. Fortunately, Border Patrol swiftly responded and successfully arrested the migrants.
"Being that those schools are so close to the border. The proximity of the border, these types of events happen weekly. A lot of people in that area that try to evade arrest from our apprehensions do have a criminal history or have immigration issues. So that’s the reason why they just take off running and go through locations they’re not even familiar with," said Border Patrol representative Refugio Corrales.
One parent, Maria Gallegos, revealed her harrowing experience during the latest migrant incident at Santa Teresa Middle School.
"We’re a little nervous because with the fear and nerves migrants have of being caught by immigration officials, we don’t know if they’d do something to our students," Gallegos said.
Lorenzo Gandara, a grandparent of a Gadsden ISD student, argued that the issue of migrant crossings is getting out of hand.
"It's really bad because we’re with the concern that something could happen to the kids," Gandara said.
However, Corrales still tried to justify the increasing migrant encounters in Santa Teresa and Sunland Park: It is common for Border Patrol Agents to receive calls from the community in the Sunland Park area, especially those impacted by migrants who often conceal themselves inside of properties.
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