Families and school staff in New York are concerned over the recent ICE raids and deportation threats.
Many migrant and immigrant children were missing from school just days after President Donald Trump rescinded a long-standing internal policy that prevented ICE agents from making arrests at “sensitive locations” like schools and churches.
Some schools reported seeing a drop in migrant children’s attendance just days following the change.
“Students are afraid to come to school, especially those in our ESL programs,” says Ms. Flores, a middle school teacher in Brooklyn. “As schools, we won’t let them into the building and the only way that removing a kid from the school is possible is if they have a warrant.”
According to the New York Times, the city has enrolled over 40,000 migrant children in New York City public schools since 2022. Many of these children filled missing holes at schools with low enrollment, or that were at risk of closing. Former New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks referred to the children as a ‘Godsend’ in an interview with the Times.
Still, despite the positive impacts of migrant children in public schools, families are still feeling fear. On Tuesday, ICE agents arrested 20 immigrants wanted on federal charges, furthering the tensions and worries felt by undocumented migrants. Rumors are also swirling in states like Texas and Chicago, of potential ICE raids on high schools where the students “don’t speak English.”
“I’ve only heard from a few families who are hesitant about sending their children to school due to fear of enforcement actions, but I imagine we will continue to see this concern grow,” says Sierra Kraft, Executive Director at ICARE, an advocacy group for immigrant children. “There are legal protections for immigrant children, but they’re not guaranteed. Keeping children out of school doesn’t just affect their education, it impacts their well-being, sense of stability and potential opportunities.”
According to the New York City Public Schools website, schools do not permit non-local law enforcement agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel, to enter schools—except when absolutely required by law. Non-local law enforcement can be defined as any law enforcement agency that is not a New York City agency.
“NYC Public Schools does not ask families to disclose, nor do we track, immigration status or country of origin. There are many factors that can impact attendance rates, including the record cold front that NYC faced coupled with Regents Week, which historically is a week of testing where students who are not required to be present for exams are not included in our counts,” a spokesperson for the Department of Education said. “With that in mind, we have not seen any significant shifts in the attendance rates in the last four school days. However, we continue to closely monitor our data, and coordinate supports in partnership with our superintendents and their teams based on emerging needs.”
Schools are advised to do the following if ICE agents visit:
- The school safety agent should immediately alert the school principal or school principal’s designee and ask the officer to wait outside of the building.
- Do not provide any information about an individual student, family member, or NYCPS employee, under any circumstances. Remain calm and limit communication to connecting the officer with the school principal.
- DOE does not consent to non-local law enforcement accessing school facilities, and school principals and other school personnel may not permit access without legal approval.
