As President Donald Trump cracks down on immigrants in the U.S. illegally, some families are wondering if it is safe to send their children to school.
In many districts, educators have sought to reassure immigrant parents that schools are safe places for their kids, despite the president’s campaign pledge to carry out mass deportations. But fears intensified for some when the Trump administration announced Tuesday it would allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals, ending a policy that has been in effect since 2011.
“Oh, dear God! I can’t imagine why they would do that,” said Carmen, an immigrant from Mexico, after hearing that the Trump administration had rescinded the policy against arrests in “sensitive locations.”
She took her two grandchildren, ages 6 and 4, to their school Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area after school officials assured her it is safe.
“What has helped calm my nerves is knowing that the school stands with us and promised to inform us if it’s not safe at school,” said Carmen, who spoke on condition that only her first name be used, out of fear she could be targeted by immigration officials.
Immigrants across the country have been anxious about Trump’s pledge to deport millions of people. While fears of raids did not come to pass on the administration’s first day, rapid changes on immigration policy have left many confused and uncertain about their future.
At a time when many migrant families — even those in the country legally — are assessing whether and how to go about in public, many school systems are watching for effects on student attendance. Several schools said they were fielding calls from worried parents about rumors that immigration agents would try to enter schools, but it was too early to tell whether large numbers of families are keeping their children home.
Missing school can deprive students of more than learning. For students from low-income families, including many immigrants, schools are a primary way to access food, mental health services and other support.
Tuesday’s move to clear the way for arrests at schools reverses guidance that restricted two federal agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out enforcement in sensitive locations. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said: “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
Daniela Anello, who heads D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School in the nation’s capital, said she was shocked by the announcement.
“It’s horrific,” Anello said. “There’s no such thing as hiding anyone. It doesn’t happen, hasn’t happened. … It’s ridiculous.”
An estimated 733,000 school-aged children are in the U.S. illegally, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Many more have U.S. citizenship but have parents who are in the country illegally.
Schools work to reassure parents
Education officials in some states and districts have vowed to stand up for immigrant students, including their right to a public education. In California, for one, officials have offered guidance to schools on state law limiting local participation in immigration enforcement.
A resolution passed by Chicago Public Schools’ Board of Education in November said schools would not assist ICE in enforcing immigration law. Agents would not be allowed into schools without a criminal warrant, it said. And New York City principals last month were reminded by the district of policies including one against collecting information on a student’s immigration status.
That’s not the case everywhere. Many districts have not offered any reassurances for immigrant families.
Educators at Georgia Fugees Academy Charter School have learned even students and families in the country legally are intimidated by Trump’s wide-ranging proposals to deport millions of immigrants and roll back non-citizens’ rights.
“They’re not even at risk of deportation and they’re still scared,” Chief Operating Officer Luma Mufleh said. Officials at the small Atlanta charter school focused on serving refugees and immigrants expected so many students to miss school the day after Trump took office that educators accelerated the school’s exam schedule so students wouldn’t miss important tests.
Asked on Tuesday for attendance data, school officials did not feel comfortable sharing it. “We don’t want our school to be targeted,“ Mufleh said.
The new policy on immigration enforcement at schools likely will prompt some immigrant parents who fear deportation to keep their children home, even if they face little risk, said Michael Lukens, executive director for the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. He said he believes it’s part of the administration’s goal to make life so untenable that immigrants eventually leave the United States on their own.
While many U.S. adults are on board with the idea of undertaking some targeted deportations, a shift toward arresting people in the country illegally at places like schools would be highly unpopular, according to a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It found only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults somewhat or strongly favor arresting children who are in the country illegally while they are at school.
Some parents see school as one of the last safe places
For Iris Gonzalez in Boston, schools seem like just about the only safe place for her to go as someone in the country illegally. She’s had children in Boston schools for nearly a decade and she doesn’t expect anyone there to bother her or her daughters for proof they’re here legally. So her children will keep going to school. “Education is important,” she said in Spanish.
Gonzalez, who came to the U.S. from Guatemala illegally 14 years ago, does worry about entering a courthouse or driving, even though she has a license. “What if they stop me?” she wonders.
“I don’t sleep,” she said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about how to look for work, whether to keep driving and what’s going to change.”
Carmen, the Mexican grandmother who now lives in California, said returning home is not an option for her family, which faced threats after her son-in-law was kidnapped two years from their home in Michoacan state, an area overrun with drug trafficking gangs.
Her family arrived two years ago under former President Joe Biden’s program allowing asylum-seekers to enter the U.S. and then apply for permission to stay. Following his inauguration Monday, Trump promptly shut down the CBP One app that processed these and other arrivals and has promised to “end asylum” during his presidency.
Carmen has had several hearings on her asylum request, which has not yet been granted.
“My biggest fear is that we don’t have anywhere to go back to,” she said. “It’s about saving our lives. And protecting our children.”
