Address to the BCPS Board of Education on the Dustin Renner ICE Incident

*Audio Quality Is Due to Us Having to Call In Due to Weather Conditions—also apologies for the notification ding half way through.

Good evening, Dr. Rogers and members of the Board.

My name is Lucas. I’ve lived in this community for 15 years. My brother attended Overlea High School—the very school that is the subject that others have already spoken about. After graduating, he served nearly a decade as a Marine. I, too, after taking the ASVAB was on my way to signing up for the Navy as a Nuclear Engineer but was disqualified due to a chronic health condition. Our family’s allegiance to this country and its values is beyond question.

Today, I run my own business, serve as a director with the Better Business Bureau, and founded a fast-growing independent media outlet with thousands of subscribers across the U.S. and beyond. But I want to share something more personal: I was once an undocumented immigrant. And everything I’ve achieved—from business success to community service—was possible because of the trust I built with my teachers over 20 years go; when I was an undocumented immigrant. That trust is the foundation of every student’s success. And that trust is exactly what’s at stake today.

Let’s be clear: My testimony isn’t just about a single teacher, but this Overlea teacher isn’t just a teacher with bad opinions. He publicly offered to hand over the names of his own students to ICE—young people he was entrusted to protect. These weren’t just names on a list. These were children, families, human beings. His betrayal didn’t just endanger immigrant students—it shattered the trust that every student relies on to feel safe in the classroom.

This isn’t just about immigrant students. If kids—legal or not—learn that their teachers might turn against them for political reasons, we aren’t just talking about a breach of trust. We are talking about its complete destruction. Why should any student care to learn from someone who might be excited to destroy them?

This incident reminds me of the lessons I learned in U.S. History over 20 years ago from the teachers I trusted—lessons about how we fought against regimes that succeeded in their tyranny not just through military might, but through civilians who willingly turned over Romani immigrants, Jews, and other scapegoats to the Gestapo.

So, as you come to a decision on this matter, I ask you to remember: History doesn’t just remember the heroes who stood up against tyranny. It remembers those who stood by and let it take root. I stand here today as a witness to what my teachers meant to me over 20 years ago. Today, you write the story that someone will tell about you 20 years from now—whether you stood for your students or with those who sought to bring fear and betrayal into your classrooms.

The entire country is watching, and history will remember. Do the right thing, make it clear that no teacher that behaves this way is welcome in the halls of your schools.