Parents and students at Rockville High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, were rattled and shaken when two teenage boys, Jose Montano and Henry Sanchez, aged 17 and 18, were accused of brutally raping and sodomizing a 14-year old girl in a school bathroom. What's brought this case so much attention is the fact that the two boys are both in the country illegally and are undocumented. They both arrived here as children and have been protected under sanctuary city policies.
Superintendent turns on concerned parents
However, the Montgomery County Superintendent, Dr.
Jack Smith, has been less than sympathetic to the outrage directed at officials from concerned parents. Smith claimed that the reactions he was receiving have crossed the line, and that "racist, xenophobic calls and emails" will not only not be tolerated, but will be reported to the police.
That seems all nice and dandy, but it seems that Smith is reacting and speaking out more strongly to what he views as 'racist' emails than about the rape incident itself, according to Tucker Carlson of Fox News.
One of the most concernings aspects of this case to parents of the school's students is that the older boys were placed in classes with much younger students, being unable to keep up with the higher level studies.
However, Superintendent Smith has denied this, saying that the suspects were in a separate program at the high school for non-English speaking students.
White House speaks out
The case caught the attention of the White House, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer spoke out against the rape, calling it shocking, disturbing, horrific, and 'whatever other words that someone can think of.' He also said that although President Trump recognizes that education policies should be decided locally, the policies that led to this incident is something that the city is going to have to take a look at.
Will the policies change?
Will this story lead to a change in immigration policies as practiced by the county and state? Superintendent Smith doesn't seem to think so, claiming that they serve any student who walks through their doors. However, Governor Larry Hogan has vowed to limit sanctuary city policies, though he has softened his stance somewhat since.
