Fresno teacher says immigration comments taken out of context. ‘I’m not that soundbite’
The Fresno teacher who questioned students about their immigration status and resident cards says his comments were taken out of context and were made while sharing stories of past undocumented students in an attempt “to make a connection with their courage.”
Students shared several audio recordings of the teacher’s remarks on social media last week, causing an uproar among many Fresno Unified parents and students who called the teacher’s remarks racist and insulting to Mexicans.
The viral recordings, which ranged from 50 to 60 seconds, captured the teacher asking students how long they’ve been living in the country, who had been in the United States the least amount of time, and proof of their citizenship status. The teacher also made demeaning comments against Mexicans in recounting a conversation about U.S. immigration enforcement with a friend.
The incident happened in a Spanish class at Roosevelt High a day after roughly half the school’s students skipped school as part of a nationwide protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Some students at Roosevelt High, which is 82% Latino or Hispanic, walked out of school Tuesday in protest of potential mass deportations in the Valley. Wednesday evening, about a dozen people urged the district’s Board of Trustees to ban the teacher from working in Fresno Unified and criticized the district’s response to the incident.
The school district and Roosevelt High’s principal, Michael Allen, denounced the teacher’s comments. In a letter to families last week, Allen said the teacher’s line of questioning was “inappropriate” and “completely unacceptable.”
Amid condemnation from the district and Roosevelt High community, the teacher, Craig Cleveland, told The Bee in an interview that his intent was not to upset or demean students. Rather, in light of students’ protest, he aimed to share with the class stories of former students protesting and petitioning Congress to advocate for immigrants in the late 1990s and 2000s. Cleveland said he thought telling these stories would resonate with students.
“I shared with them some stories that I had as a teacher where my students protested,” said Cleveland. “That’s a story of protest, taking a risk, being courageous, and I thought, wouldn’t they connect with that?”
As a substitute teacher, Cleveland said he was trying to share the experience to connect with students and use current events as a teaching opportunity.
“I am sorry that that such a thing had to happen for people to be offended,” he said. “They actually live with really a horrifying experience, and the reality is their perception is going to be their truth.”
Cleveland taught social sciences courses at Roosevelt High School for 35 years prior to his 2022 retirement. He said he returned to the high school as a substitute teacher this school year at the request of former colleagues.
Cleveland said he asked students to show him their resident cards last week while telling a story of how, years ago in a history class he taught, a student had asked why her ID listed her as an “alien resident.” Cleveland said the discussion that day motivated students in the class to write letters to Congress asking to change the demeaning term.
He said he asked the class, which consisted primarily of native Spanish speakers, to show him their resident cards to see if they no longer said “alien” on them.
The recordings that went viral on social media captured Cleveland making demeaning remarks against Mexicans while recounting a conversation with a friend.
“One day I was talking to him, and I know what he felt, but I said ‘Look, let’s say these people coming in from Mexico — you’re telling me we can’t stop it?’ Is it impossible to stop?” he told students in the recording. “Are the Mexicans so sneaky, so clever, so smart? No.”
He said his intent in making those comments was to push back against conservative views on immigration. “My point was, ultimately the government lets people come over here, and if they wanted to shut it off, they could,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland said the reason he asked students how long they have been in the country was to understand their language proficiency and their goals for higher education.
Several people told the Fresno Unified Board of Trustees on Wednesday evening Cleveland’s remarks created fear among students in classrooms, and that he shouldn’t have singled out students based on their race and immigration status.
Some community members who spoke at Wednesday’s board meeting disputed Cleveland’s telling of events. Some read statements on behalf of students in Cleveland’s classes, claiming the students feared retalliation for speaking publicly.
“The recordings were not out of context, and nobody got the wrong idea of what he said,” Stacy Williams told the school board, reading a statement she said came from one of Cleveland’s students.
“He should have never made those comments in the first place, especially because it was a Spanish class,” the student’s statement read. “What he was saying made people really uncomfortable, especially when he was asking in the class had immigration cards and to show them to him and how long we have lived in the United States. He was telling the class that protesting would not achieve anything and that it was a dumb idea. He said that missing a day at school wouldn’t change anything, because none of us try our best when we’re at school.”
Fresno Unified declined to comment on Cleveland’s employment status with the school district.
The district’s policy does not allow educators to ask students about their immigration status, regardless of the intent of the questions, said Fresno Unified’s spokesperson Nikki Henry.
The district’s Interim Superintendent Misty Her said the threats of deportation are real for undocumented families and the community, and conversations about immigration policy and enforcement cannot be avoided.
The district’s curriculum department is working on guidance to engage students and educators in civil and productive conversations, turning them into teaching and learning moments without discomfort, said Her.
“We are an education organization. We are educators. This is our title. We are here to educate,” Her said. “Despite whatever our beliefs, our values, whatever we come with, our main job is to make sure that we’re educating our students.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
