This story was updated after WCCUSD provided Richmondside with more accurate information.
The murky details of when and where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained a Richmond parent Thursday illustrate how heightened fear in the community can lead to confusion about the facts.
Although school board officials posted specific details on Facebook Thursday afternoon, a district spokesperson told Richmondside overnight that Nystrom Elementary staff are confident that it didn’t happen during pickup and that the district is receiving “conflicting information about the exact time of the arrest.”
WCCUSD spokesperson Liz Sanders said they can confirm that the “directly impacted” children of the person arrested are not enrolled in district schools, based on information from school principals and community members.
“Additional information has trickled in throughout the afternoon and evening,” Sanders told Richmondside. “We have also received unverified information that the arrest in the pictures and video that were circulating may have occurred prior to the school day, in the early morning.”
On Friday morning, Superintendent Cheryl Cotton sent another message to the community confirming “what did occur yesterday was the arrest of a parent in the community, at some point in the morning.”
“This arrest occurred in the neighborhood near Nystrom School, not in front of the school, and not during drop-off hours,” Cotton wrote. “Any immigration enforcement activity in our community, no matter where and no matter to whom, causes harm and concern for our families.”
She emphasized that WCCUSD principals, teachers, and community partners are continuing increased coverage at drop-off and pickup times.
State law (Assembly Bill 49, signed in 2025) also prohibits any law enforcement agent who are carrying out immigration actions from accessing school campuses or student records without a signed judicial order. WCCUSD has its own policy reinforcing this law.
Apparently on Thursday, a photo was circulating that showed a mother and children present when a man was arrested by ICE. There are also unverified reports that members of the school community are sharing a video of the arrest. Richmondside received a news tip Thursday saying an ICE arrest happened near another elementary school less than two miles away.
The initial public report saying it happened during drop-off at Nystrom came from Superintendent Cheryl Cotton’s message sent to area schools. School board member Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy shared that statement via Facebook and that he was “livid and heartbroken.”
Sanders said the district acted quickly to communicate with families before the school day ended. WCCUSD also worked with the teachers union so that there were more staff outside to protect families during pick up.
“We are grateful to our labor partners at the United Teachers of Richmond and to our community partners for their quick collective action in order to ease families’ concerns about safe pickup from school,” Sanders said.
Gonzalez-Hoy wasn’t the only school board member to post about the arrest. Board members Cinthia Hernandez and Guadalupe Enllana made Facebook statements Thursday, though Hernandez said more specifically that “ICE detained someone at South 6th Street and Maine Avenue, near Nystrom Elementary” at about 7:35 a.m.
“As a daughter of Mexican immigrants, a mother in a mixed-status household, and a WCCUSD Board Trustee, this hits close to home,” Hernandez wrote. “It brings up the fear of family separation and the uncertainty that so many of our families carry every day.”
Cotton’s Thursday statement said: “Earlier today, WCCUSD District staff received a confirmed report of immigration enforcement in the area of Nystrom Elementary School, resulting in the arrest of a parent after drop-off. Immigration enforcement actions in our community cause both direct trauma to the families involved and can have broad impacts on student wellbeing and school attendance. We are asking all principals to make sure that staff are outside to support during drop-off and pickup, and (United Teachers of Richmond) is asking teachers to support during drop-off and pickup as well. We are also reaching out to community partners to support neighborhood safety in the area of schools that are feeling the direct impact of this enforcement.”
She points anyone with concerns to the district’s immigration resources web page.
Last spring the Richmond City Council took action to strengthen its position as an ICE-free zone by approving an explicit ban against the use of city property as staging areas or processing locations during federal immigration enforcements, according to the agenda report.
The ordinance also bars city employees from giving immigration agents access to non-public areas of city buildings, such as offices, storage spaces and workshops, and prohibits the city from providing resources such as personnel, funding, equipment, communications systems, office space or parking access for immigration enforcement purposes. It also called for the city to develop a communications plan, with public input, for alerting residents when verified immigration enforcement activity occurs.
The city also allotted $1 million to help three nonprofit organizations — Catholic Charities East Bay, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and the Multicultural Institute — provide free or low-cost legal help and community education to Richmond’s immigrant residents.
Enllana’s Facebook statement reiterated her support of immigrant families:
“I want you to hear this from me. We will continue to show up, listen, support one another, and make sure our students know that their schools are place where they belong. In moments like this, we must lead with humanity, compassion, and courage. Our children deserve nothing less.”
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