As Trump expands immigration enforcement, schools confront a new climate of fear
As President Donald Trump expands immigration enforcement, educators across the United States are sharing a story. In court filings submitted this week, teachers described students staying home after rumors of raids, parents withdrawing children from school, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detaining people near campuses.The accounts were included in a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration decision to allow immigration enforcement actions in schools, houses of worship and medical facilities. The plaintiffs, including farmworker and teacher unions, churches and preschool educators, filed the case in federal court in Eugene, Oregon. They argue that the policy reversal was arbitrary and capricious.
The end of “protected areas”
For more than three decades, federal guidance had restricted immigration arrests in what were considered “protected areas,” including schools and churches. Over time, that guidance was expanded to include hospitals, homeless shelters and other essential service sites. Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration rescinded the policy. A brief memorandum advised officers to use what it called a “healthy dose of common sense” when conducting operations near such locations.Administration officials have defended the change, saying that exempting schools and churches could allow criminals to evade enforcement. Officials have also said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not target schools directly. Still, there have been multiple instances in recent months in which agents have pursued or detained individuals on or near school property.
Testimony from classrooms across states
According to the Associated Press, educators from 18 states submitted anonymous testimony describing the impact of enforcement actions near their schools and health facilities. One middle school teacher said that half of the students stayed home after rumors of immigration activity nearby. The following month, a student was detained at a bus stop.In Chelsea, Massachusetts, teachers union president Kathryn Anderson said the disruption to learning has surpassed that of the COVID pandemic. “Right now, kids of all backgrounds are being prevented from going to school because of the extremely real fear that either they or their family members will be separated,” Anderson said, according to the Associated Press. She added that helping students function within that fear has been nearly impossible.In Chicago, agents released tear gas during an operation that affected a school playground. They later arrested a teacher inside her preschool during morning drop off. The Department of Homeland Security said agents had attempted to stop the vehicle she was traveling in before she reached the school and that she barricaded herself inside, requiring officers to enter. She was later released.In Minneapolis, officers pursued a man onto a high school campus at the end of the school day, leading to a confrontation with bystanders. In Oregon, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to arrest a man in a preschool parking lot after he dropped off his infant son.
Fear as an administrative consequence
Beyond the visible incidents, educators described more subtle consequences. A speech pathologist recounted meetings with immigrant parents who feared that signing documents for special education services might attract enforcement attention. A high school teacher said several students switched to virtual learning after a parent was detained at a bus stop. The virtual option is offered only in English, raising concerns that students who are still learning the language could fall behind.At another school, a student detained at a bus stop did not return to class after being released. When students now ask whether they can be arrested at school, one teacher wrote, “I can no longer reassure them that campus is safe from ICE,” according to the Associated Press.
What shifts inside a school system
The legal question before the court concerns administrative procedure and executive authority. The educational question unfolding in districts across the country is more practical. When school attendance becomes a risk calculation, even for families with lawful status, learning shifts from the foreground to the background.Schools have long operated on the assumption that certain civic spaces are insulated from enforcement in order to preserve access to education and health care. That insulation is now thinner. The change is procedural. The consequences are cumulative.Students will not register this shift in a single headline. It will appear instead in rising absenteeism, in parents reluctant to sign forms, in teachers unable to answer a basic question about safety with certainty. Over time, those small adjustments can reshape who shows up, who withdraws, and who remains within reach of the public education system.
