This summer the Río Hondo Community College District Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a resolution that all law enforcement personnel must identify themselves and refrain from wearing face coverings during law enforcement operations on campus and at off-site educational centers.
Ensuring safety
“This resolution reflects our commitment to ensuring a safe, welcoming and transparent campus environment,” Rio Hondo College (RHC) Superintendent/President Teresa Dreyfuss said. “Clear identification of law enforcement personnel builds trust and protects the well-being of our students and staff.”
At their August 13 board meeting in the L Tower, the trustees passed Resolution 081325-2 in response to masked immigration enforcement raids that began in June 2025 in all five major cities within RHCʼs district: El Monte, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, and Whittier.
The resolution suggested that “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agentsʼ recent practice of wearing face coverings, – and at times covering badges, names, and other identifying information – is undermining public safety, creating fear, and eroding confidence in law enforcement.”
Distinguishing officers from dangerous criminals
The resolution also said that because of the rise in national, state, county, and community police impersonation cases, it is imperative for all parties to be able to distinguish law enforcement personnel from dangerous criminals.
“Weʼve got to do everything we can to make our community feel safe,” Todd Rogers, Chief of Rio Hondo College Police and Campus Safety Department, said. “I want people to feel safe. And my job here is to protect the entire family regardless of where they came from, what their legal status is. None of that matters to me.”
Rogers verified that no agencies have conducted immigration enforcement on RHCʼs campus. If masked, unidentified agents did come on campus, he said that his department would ask them for their cooperation and to comply with the resolution.
He said that RHC police have no duty to cooperate unless thereʼs a judicial order, but that obstructing would be a federal offense.
WUHSD passes similar resolution
Several local school districts are considering similar resolutions to protect their students and families. On September 9, the Whittier Union High School District (WUHSD) Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution called Affirming Support for Immigrant Students and Families and Making a Call to Action Regarding Current U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency Enforcement Methods.
WUHSD Superintendent Dr. Monica Oviedo said that student safety and well-being is vital to all district staff and that Resolution 2526-11 was very personal for the WUHSD trustees.
“Many of them have been immigrants or have families where thereʼs mixed status within the family,” Oviedo said. “All of them were supportive of ensuring that when kids come to school, they feel safe. It was really important personally to each of the board members.”
New California Laws
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law on Saturday, September 20. SB 627, the “No Secret Police Act,” is a ban on local and federal law enforcement officers wearing masks or other disguises while on duty in California. The law will take effect January 1, 2026. The second law, SB 98, the “SAFE Schools Act,” mandates that the public K-12 schools, community colleges, and the California State University system notify their communities when immigration officers are on campus and requests that the University of California system do the same. It also prohibits school employees from allowing federal immigration enforcement into nonpublic areas of a campus without a judicial warrant. SB 98 is an urgency statute that took effect the moment it was signed.
