Trump Could Let ICE Into Schools — And Educators Are Getting Ahead Of It

Donald Trump ran for president largely on the promise that he would deport millions of undocumented immigrants ― and now, educators and immigration advocates are worried that he could put public school students and their families at risk of being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump is considering revoking a rule that largely blocks ICE from making arrests in so-called sensitive locations such as schools and churches, NBC News reported in December. The Obama administration created the rule in 2011, and it has been in effect ever since, including through the first Trump administration. (The 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, which says all children are entitled to a public education regardless of their immigration status, would still stand.)

Even if there isn’t a widespread effort to allow ICE in schools, advocates are still worried that the fear of immigration officials in schools could have a detrimental effect on immigrant communities.

Any federal law would supersede the policies that a school district or locality has in place, and the incoming administration has already threatened Democratic-led states that have said they won’t comply with federal immigration policies. But some school administrators are taking steps to get ahead of any changes the Trump administration may make, including by reaffirming their longstanding policies against ICE entering their schools, and by training teachers about what rights the students and their families have.

In Palm Springs, California, the school board in December passed a resolution that affirmed its commitment to providing an education to all students regardless of their immigration status, as well as barring immigration enforcement officers from entering the schools without first going through the proper legal channels.

“We wanted to signal to families that… we’re going to do everything to keep you safe, and you can be confident in coming to school,” Tony Signoret, superintendent of the Palm Springs Unified School District, told HuffPost.

Signoret doesn’t know how much of Trump’s rhetoric is just bluster, but he wanted to reassure any parents who might be fearful or hear rumors about ICE arrests at schools. The school district only requires a birth certificate to place the child in the right grade; a verification of address to make sure the student is in the right district; and vaccinations that are required by the state.

“If an ICE official came to us with a subpoena for records, we would give it to them, but there’s zero information on citizenship,” Signoret said. “That’s what we want parents to know.”

As apprehension grows, many schools across the country are vowing to keep their students and communities safe by issuing resolutions that forbid schools from giving information to ICE without going through the proper channels, such as obtaining a warrant signed by a judge, which could be a lengthy process.

“If you are a student who is undocumented or a family who is undocumented, we will take care of you,” Denver Public Schools board member Scott Esserman said at a meeting shortly after the election. “That is our responsibility; we’re here to do that. I think it’s important that you hear that.”

In Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, the school board passed a resolution in December saying that schools cannot give out information to ICE without first going through the superintendent’s office. And last week in Portland, Oregon, the school board reaffirmed its commitment to keeping ICE out of schools. “Let’s be clear: this resolution is not about politics,” board member Gary Hollands said. “This is about doing what is right.”

Still, some red states have signaled that they may be more willing to work with the Trump administration.

Last month, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, announced a proposed rule to allow the state’s Department of Education to collect data on undocumented immigrants. He claims the state needs this data to properly allocate funding, and says it would not be used to target students, but Walters has been cozying up to Trump for years and has wrongly blamed immigrants for myriad problems facing Oklahoma’s public schools.

Immigration experts are skeptical that Trump would want the media spectacle of ICE personnel operating in a public school.

In 2017, ICE officials in Los Angeles arrested a man shortly after he pulled away from the middle school where he’d just dropped off his 12-year-old daughter (who captured the arrest on video). The incident caused a ripple effect, scaring families and forcing the schools to hold an assembly informing students what to do if any of their family members were detained by ICE.

“I don’t think they want that visual of pulling a child crying or a parent out of a school on the six o’clock news,” Julie Sugarman, education analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan organization that focuses on data and analysis, told HuffPost.

But the fear of being targeted could cause widespread panic, and advocates and educators worry that some families may stop sending their kids to school because they’re afraid of being arrested.

“They’re very worried about the issue of kids not coming to school,” Sugarman said. “There’s a concern about kids not even being enrolled.”

“The destabilization does seem to be part of the playbook,” she added.

And for all students, undocumented or not, the political discourse and heightened fears can make school more challenging.

“That’s another thing educators are worried about: the distraction in our schools and how it takes away from the academics,” Sugarman said.

In 2010, Arizona passed legislation that became known as the “Papers, Please” law, because it enabled law enforcement to ask about a person’s immigration status during encounters. The law was never fully implemented, and remains in legal limbo to this day, but the fear of immigration sweeps made undocumented immigrants and their families apprehensive about going out in public.

A 2011 study from the University of Arizona found that the legislation contributed to a drop in enrollment in some public schools — which in turn led to job cuts and less funding — and an increase in stress-related health problems for children with immigrant families.

“I don’t think our kids, even if their families are in support of stricter immigration laws, want to see ICE in our schools,” Signoret said.

Regardless of what’s to come, he said he and other educators are committed to doing what they can to protect students.

“It’s a political hot potato,” he said, “but we have to get out there and tell our students we’re here to keep you safe.”