A Denver school board member has promised that his board will work to “take care of” families living in the U.S. illegally, citing the results of the presidential election.

Denver Public Schools Board of Education member Scott Esserman kicked off the board’s work session earlier this month with the remarks. He said he felt it was important for the district to reaffirm its support for all students, specifically pointing to “undocumented students” and “immigrant students.”

“We as a board, before I was on it, since we’ve been on it have been committed to the safety and security of those students and will continue to do so,” Esserman said.

Esserman promised the community the Denver school board will pass a new policy if it feels doing so would protect students and families living in the U.S. illegally.

“But we need to let you know, if you are a student who is undocumented or a family who is undocumented, we will take care of you,” he said. “That’s our responsibility, we’re here to do that and I think it’s important that you hear that.”

The sentiments came ahead of President-elect Donald Trump naming former Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan as the “border czar” of his incoming administration. Since being selected, Homan has taken a strict stance on illegal immigration, including threatening to send more ICE agents to sanctuary cities to remove migrants residing there illegally.

Trump also confirmed in a Truth Social post last week his new administration will declare a national state of emergency over illegal immigration and “use military assets” to carry out a mass deportation program. Just days later, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told news organization Denverite his city will not cooperate with certain proposals of the incoming administration, such as allowing local police to assist with illegal immigration.

School board members nationwide this month have taken stances similar to Esserman’s. Sarah Lentz, the chair of the Portland Public Schools Board of Education in Maine, outlined last week how her district can resist deportation efforts.

Lentz said immigrant families in her community have “come under attack” ahead of the transition of White House administrations. She reminded the community of a 2017 school board resolution ensuring that, unless required by a court order, Portland Public Schools will not use district resources “for the purpose of detecting or assisting in the apprehension” of individuals whose “only violation of law” is residing in the U.S. illegally.

“Just a reminder that there are no current plans for mass deportation or other action, but we’re doing everything that we can to be prepared should this become the case,” Lentz said.

The Chicago Board of Education earlier this month also approved a resolution asserting that Chicago Public Schools will not “provide assistance” to ICE officials “in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law.” The resolution says ICE agents will not be permitted access to district facilities or personnel “except in the rare instances in which [Chicago Public Schools] is provided with a criminal warrant.”

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