Oklahoma State Faculty Superintendent Ryan Walters pushed again after a conflict on CNN over his openness to permitting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers into faculties – with Walters doubling down and rejecting “sanctuary schools.”
Walters had advised native media that he wouldn’t rule out permitting federal brokers into faculties to take away unlawful immigrants, amid an ongoing deportation operation since President Donald Trump took workplace.
The Trump administration has lifted a Biden-era “sensitive places” mandate, which prevented brokers from getting into faculties amid issues that unlawful immigrants might use such locations to cover from enforcement. It has sparked pushback from some native officers.
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Oklahoma State Faculty Superintendent Ryan Walters, left, is pushing again towards left-wing media shops and Democrats after going through criticism for asserting his intention to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s unlawful immigration crackdown. (AP/Getty)
Nonetheless, Walters, in an interview with Fox Information Digital, stated that such strikes may very well be essential to keep away from household separation.
“Are the Democrats and now the left-wing media the party of family separation? If you have adults that are going to be deported from this country, do you not want the Trump administration to know where their kids are, where they’re enrolled in school, so that if the family is to be deported, they’re actually deported together?” he requested.
It led to a livid back-and-forth with CNN host Brianna Keilar, who requested him if it will be traumatic for youths.
“Do you think it would be traumatic for students to witness a raid in their school and students forcibly removed from their school? Do you think that would be traumatic?”
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CNN host Brianna Keilar requested Ryan Walters to answer his feedback showing to help ICE raids in faculties. (CNN screenshot)
Walters answered, “I think what would be traumatic is if you didn‘t give President Trump the information necessary to keep families together. So what you would prefer is to just deport the parents and have the kids have no idea what happened to their parents? What we‘re—”
“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking you….That’s not at all what I’m asking, superintendent,” Keilar interrupted once more.
Many members of the media have additionally taken problem with a latest rule change by the Oklahoma State Board of Training, titled “Enhancing Enrollment Transparency,” which requires every college district to report the variety of college students enrolled in faculties who’re unable to offer proof of citizenship or authorized standing. Based on the rule, the brand new coverage is designed to “provide greater transparency” and to “support the needs” of the faculties and college students.
“We’re saying we want to see your driver’s license, we want to see which country you came from, if you’ve come into the country illegally. I think that is a very commonsense requirement that we’re putting out there. We want to make sure that we’re asking for this information so that we can accurately use resources and personnel in the state to educate our children,” Walters defined. “I think that our taxpayers or our citizens understand that. And the left tries to gaslight the American people into acting like this is some kind of absurd ask.”
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ICE and DEA migrant raids New York Metropolis. (Drug Enforcement Administration New York)
Chatting with Fox Digital, Walters stood by his stance, noting Trump’s victory on the voting sales space in November.
“We’re talking about families, we’re talking about adults, the adults are in the country illegally. And we’re trying to make sure the Trump administration has the information to move forward with the most aggressive deportation policy in our nation’s history that the American people clearly support,” he stated.
“The president won an overwhelming victory with his election. He won every swing state. He won every county in Oklahoma. So you look at this and you say: ‘CNN, left wing media, Democrats, you don’t want to have the real conversation because it requires you to admit you created this problem.’ Now the adults are in charge trying to fix it by shutting down the border, deporting illegal immigrants,” he stated.
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President Donald Trump indicators government orders within the Oval Workplace on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Photographs)
Walters additionally pointed to the impression of unlawful immigration on faculties in Oklahoma, together with the mandatory diversion of assets.
“While the left continues to go out and defend and champion the cause of illegal immigrant criminals, we’re looking at the American citizen, Oklahomans, and we’re sitting here saying, ‘listen, what about the kid that’s over a year behind in reading who we’ve now put in a tutoring program? They’re getting caught back up, now all of a sudden, all the tutors have to be diverted because of illegal immigrants that have flocked to their city and flocked to their hometown,’” he stated.
“Outlets like CNN and other left-wing outlets refuse to talk about the compassion for the victims’ families who have been targeted by the crimes committed by illegal immigrants. They refuse to talk about compassion when it’s your students of American citizens that have fallen behind in school, are working to get caught back up and yet, all of their resources are being moved at the last minute. They refuse to talk about compassion when you see the deaths caused by fentanyl, that oftentimes what a student tries it for the first time and they drop dead,” he stated. “Americans are tired of it.”
He additionally pointed to the circulation of medicine and criminals into the U.S. through the porous southern border.
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Oklahoma State Faculty Superintendent Ryan Walters. (Courtesy of Ryan Walters)
“And we know that over 99% of that fentanyl has come across the border. So the left, they can cry their crocodile tears. It’s complete phony outrage that they act like that,” he stated. “They have compassion for illegal immigrants. They have no compassion for the American citizens, for the American people, for the American worker. And Americans are tired of it.”
Walters additionally stated that different states ought to be following Oklahoma’s instance and backing the deportation and border safety effort by the Trump administration.
“This country is a law and order country. We cannot continue to allow criminal activity, we cannot continue to allow sanctuary schools,” he stated. “Listen, you don’t get to…harbor any other criminals in a school system. We should not be allowing illegal immigrants to enroll in our schools, work in our schools, and not get that information for the president, for the entire country,” he stated.
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“Americans want to see an America First policy. They’ve got that in President Trump,” he added. “They will see that here in Oklahoma with our schools. We will put our students first. We will put American citizens first. And we will continue to work with President Trump and his team as they are doing a tremendous job in not only getting our schools back on track but getting our country back on track by bringing law and order back.”
Fox Information’ Lindsay Kornick and Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.