In Fresno, California, rumors circulating on social media regarding imminent immigration raids at local schools caused significant panic among parents, despite these raids being entirely fabricated. Conversely, in Denver, an actual immigration raid at an apartment complex prompted many students to skip school, as highlighted in a lawsuit. Moreover, in Alice, Texas, a school official mistakenly informed parents that Border Patrol agents might board school buses to verify immigration documentation.
President Trump’s immigration policies are having a notable impact on schools nationwide, as officials address the increasing anxiety among parents and their children, including those who are legally residing in the country. Mr. Trump’s executive actions significantly widened the scope of individuals eligible for deportation and removed a ban on immigration enforcement within educational institutions.
While many public and school officials are encouraging immigrant families to enroll their children in school, some have taken a contrary stance. Furthermore, Republicans in Oklahoma and Tennessee have proposed measures that would severely restrict, if not eliminate, the ability of undocumented children and U.S.-born children of undocumented parents to attend school.
As they navigate these concerns, many families are finding it challenging to differentiate between facts and rumors.
Anxiety on the Rise
In the Alice Independent School District in Texas, officials warned parents that the district had “received information” indicating that U.S. Border Patrol agents might interrogate students about their citizenship status during field trips on school buses passing through checkpoints located around 60 miles from the Texas-Mexico border. This report was ultimately proven to be false.
Angelib Hernandez from Aurora, Colorado, started keeping her children home from school a few days each week after Mr. Trump’s inauguration and has now stopped sending them altogether.
She fears that immigration agents will come to her children’s schools, detain them, and separate her family.
“They keep telling me, ‘We hope we’ll never be detained alone,'” she expressed. “That thought terrifies them.”
Hernandez and her children arrived approximately a year ago and applied for asylum. While she was pursuing legal channels to stay in the U.S., recent changes in immigration policies have left her status uncertain.
In the past week, her fears have escalated. She now feels that “everyone”—from Spanish-language media to social media platforms to fellow students and parents—conveys the impression that immigration agents are planning to infiltrate schools in the Denver area. While schools assure parents that their kids are safe, “we don’t trust it,” she admits.
Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have not been documented entering schools, the mere possibility has alarmed enough families that some districts are advocating for policy changes that would restrict agents’ operations within educational settings.
Denver Public Schools has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that the Trump administration is interfering with the education of the students in its care. Last year, Denver welcomed 43,000 migrants from the southern border, including children who enrolled in public schools. The district reported a decline in attendance at schools with high concentrations of migrant students in recent weeks, attributing this decrease partly to the immigration raid at a local apartment complex.
The support that Denver schools have provided to students and families during this uncertainty involves “tasks that distract and divert resources from DPS’s core and essential educational mission,” according to the district’s legal representatives in the lawsuit.
Calls for Stricter Measures
Across the nation, conservative voices have been questioning whether unauthorized immigrants should be entitled to a public education.
Oklahoma’s Republican state superintendent, Ryan Walters, advocated for a rule requiring parents to provide proof of citizenship—such as a birth certificate or passport—when enrolling their children in school. Although the rule would have permitted parents to register their children without proof, advocates argued that it would have strongly discouraged them from doing so. Even Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, considered the rule excessive and ultimately vetoed it.
In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that would grant school districts the power to determine whether to admit undocumented students. They hope to provoke legal challenges that could potentially overturn a four-decade-old precedent granting every child in the country the right to education.
The ramifications of immigration policy on U.S. schools are substantial. Fwd.us, an organization advocating for criminal justice and immigration reform, estimated that in 2021, approximately 600,000 K-12 students in the U.S. lacked legal status, while nearly 4 million students—many of whom are U.S.-born—have a parent living in the country illegally.
Fear of Attending School
Research has demonstrated that immigration raids negatively impact the academic performance of students, including those who are native-born. In North Carolina and California, studies revealed decreased attendance and enrollment among Hispanic students when local police participated in programs that authorized them to enforce immigration laws. Another study noted that test scores of Hispanic students declined in schools located near sites of workplace raids.
In Fresno, attendance has reportedly dropped by between 700 and 1,000 students each day since Mr. Trump took office. Officials from the Central California district have received numerous frantic calls from parents concerning rumored immigration raids—including those targeting schools, as stated by Carlos Castillo, chief of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Fresno Unified School District. The feared raids on schools turned out to be unfounded.
“It extends beyond students who have citizenship or legal status,” Castillo remarked. Students are anxious about the potential impacts on their parents, relatives, and friends, and they live in fear that immigration agents might raid their schools or homes.
A principal recently contacted Castillo in tears after a family informed them that they were too frightened to go grocery shopping. The principal offered to shop for the family, delivering $100 worth of groceries and spending time with them while they shared their worries.
The district is working with families to educate them about their rights, offering guidance on issues like liquidating assets or planning for child custody in case parents are deported. They have partnered with local organizations to provide legal advice and held nearly a dozen informational meetings, some via Zoom.
