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Alleged Student Assault Raises Immigration Issue

Montgomery School Website

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - Students and parents whose Maryland high school has been dragged into the national immigration debate declined to comment about an alleged rape case involving a 14-year-old girl and a suspect authorities say came to the U.S. illegally from Central America.

Thursday evening in the parking lot of Rockville High School, one mother would only point to a sign of red plastic cups in a ballpark fence that read "Rockville Strong."

Protesters on both sides of the debate converged on a nearby elementary school Thursday during a visit by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

And the White House has weighed in, saying President Donald Trump has made a crackdown on illegal immigration a priority "because of tragedies like this."

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.