A substitute teacher in Los Angeles was recorded allegedly telling sixth-grade students that their parents will be deported now that Donald Trump has been elected president, sparking outrage and concern among some students and their families.
“If you were born here, then your parents got to go. Then they will leave you behind, and you will be in foster care,” an unidentified man can be heard saying in audio obtained by NBC 4.
Trump repeatedly vowed during his campaign to deport undocumented immigrants and build a wall along the United States’ border with Mexico.The shocking warning was reportedly made Wednesday at Bret Harte Preparatory Middle School, which state data shows is predominantly made up of Latino students.
When one child asked how their family members will be found, the man, who parents identified to NBC as a long-time physical education teacher, is heard saying: “I have your phone numbers, your address, your mama’s address, your daddy’s address. It’s all in the system, sweetie.”
One child said that her teacher’s words particularly disturbed her because her father is undocumented.
“I worry about my dad because I had a nightmare that he wasn’t with me anymore,” she told CBS 2.
Parent Jennifer Reynaga also expressed distress over the seemingly blanketed threat made to the students.
“I would think the kids would do it, but I never thought a teacher would do it,” she told NBC 4.
Parents told both local news stations that the teacher has been fired, according to their communication with school district officials.
The middle school referred all questions to the school district, which did not immediately return requests for comment Monday.