FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Demand for adult English classes offered by Framingham Public Schools has grown so much in recent years there’s now 1,400 folks on a waiting list.

The classes are among a host of “free” services for illegal immigrants offered by the district’s Department of Family and Community Engagement, a leading partner in the community helping them avoid deportation, the Metro West Daily News reports.

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Christine Tibor, director of the Department of Family and Community Engagement, told the news site she participated in a community meeting Thursday that brought about 50 police, teachers, local clergy, union officials, and others out to the Greater Framingham Community Church to scheme ways to keep illegal residents safe in the community.

“Together we will explore in a safe place, the challenges surrounding immigration, and the rights of immigrants and refugees,” read a notice for the event in the Framingham Source. “Today, we have fear in our community. We will explore how we can enlist all of Framingham to be educated advocates around these issues, and challenges as well. Provide a better understanding of our rights. We will host a panel presentation of community resource partners helping us best on how to communicate and embrace each.”

At the community meeting, Tibor explained that school district officials are doing whatever they can to push back against the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

She explained that school officials recently created a special section on the district’s website to provide resources for illegals, and they’re hosting “know your rights” seminars conducted in Portuguese and Spanish that have already helped 400 people in the adult ESL program.

District leaders also brought immigration attorneys to the local high school, where they offered legal advice to about 70 students concerned about their legal status, she said.

Jennifer Ollington, attorney with the Metro West Legal Services, helped to provide the pro bono legal services, and directed others seeking immigration advice to a walk-in immigration clinic with two full-time staff attorneys dedicated to helping illegal immigrants.

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“I would encourage people, even if they think they don’t have any immigration relief, to just come and talk to an attorney for free,” Ollington told the news site.

At Thursday’s community forum – Creating a Safe Community – Framingham Police Chief Ken Ferguson made it clear that officers are banned from investigating whether those they contact are in the country illegally or helping to facilitate their deportation.

When the department receives a request to detain someone for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for 48 hours, they typically hold them only for a day and forward the case to a bail commissioner, he said.

“We’ve never been called by ICE and asked to reserve cells for them,” he said, adding that Framingham police do not participate in immigration raids and instead focus on building relationships through neighborhood meetings, police-youth programs, and citizen police academies, Metro West Daily News reports.

“We realize with the current environment that we have to enhance that,” he said, “and that’s what we plan on doing.”