From Defiant to Compliant, Schools Take Varying Tacks to Possible ICE Raids
Educators say campus immigration enforcement will traumatize 'all students attending public schools.' School attendance is already reportedly down.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter
Updated, Jan. 29
From strategic defiance to more open compliance, school districts across the country are gearing up in very different ways for how to respond if 鈥 or when 鈥 immigration agents arrive on campus.聽
Their deliberations are occurring as Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and as President Donald J. Trump鈥檚 new administration placing schools, hospitals and churches off-limits to such enforcement actions.
Sonja H. Trainor, executive director of the National School Attorneys Association, told 社区黑料 on Monday that her members are already reporting a significant decrease in student attendance 鈥 and tremendous concern among parents about Trump鈥檚 latest orders.
And while many education leaders have pledged to keep ICE at bay 鈥 Georgia鈥檚 Gwinnett County Public Schools instructed staff to make a copy of agents鈥 identification cards and to 鈥渘ot offer any information鈥 鈥 others are advising greater degrees of cooperation. One extreme outlier: Oklahoma鈥檚 Republican state Superintendent Ryan Walters, who said he welcomes .
鈥淪chools haven鈥檛 been working with law enforcement on this,鈥 he . 鈥淗owever President Trump decides to carry out the actions around his immigration policy, we are going to absolutely work with him on that.鈥
Trainor said her organization will be offering their members information and support on how they can counsel districts in responding to ICE, including a webinar presented by an immigration attorney, in the coming weeks.
Most school protocols for visits from law enforcement agencies, including immigration agents, she said, call for a school official to greet the officer; ask for credentials and any order, subpoena, or warrant; and to get a specific administrator to interact with them.
鈥淭he administrator may also want to consult legal counsel based on the circumstances,鈥 she said. 鈥淓ach scenario may be fact specific and require schools to be neutral and objective looking at state/federal law for release of student information.鈥
The United States is home to some and as of 2018, roughly lived with at least one family member, often a parent, who was undocumented, according to the American Immigration Council.
Tom Homan, Trump鈥檚 border czar, told ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week鈥 that he鈥檚 willing to execute raids in K-12 schools, saying it will help solve another problem:
鈥淗ow many MS-13 members are the age 14 to 17? Many of them,鈥 Homan said Sunday, referring to a
Longtime Oklahoma science teacher Jenny Bobo said students and families in her school community are filled with dread.
鈥淧eople are terrified,鈥 she told 社区黑料. 鈥淲e, as educators, fear for our students. We are terrified that, in order to advance political careers, entire buildings full of children will be traumatized.鈥
in Oklahoma have already begun, as students and adults plead to keep families together.

Bobo’s 14-year-old son, Preston Lee Bobo, was among a group of protestors who attended the state Board of Education meeting Tuesday morning in Oklahoma City. The board Walters’ proposal requiring that families provide information on their immigration or citizenship status when enrolling their kids. The move is seen as possibly violating Plyler v. Doe, the landmark 1982 Supreme Court ruling that a child cannot be denied a public education based on immigration status, and could potentially create a trove of data making undocumented students in Oklahoma more vulnerable to ICE enforcement.
Preston said he wanted to call attention to what he believes is unfair treatment of undocumented children. The teen was not permitted to speak as the public comments portion of these events has been greatly curtailed: . If given the chance, Preston said he was ready to be heard.
鈥淚 think that they should be treated like any other student,鈥 the teen said of his undocumented peers. 鈥淎gents coming in and looking for undocumented children is inappropriate. If they find them, then they will presumably try to get them deported and I don’t support that. I also don鈥檛 really want a bunch of cops in my school. We already have SROs (school resource officers).鈥
John Seidlitz, a long-time educator, immigrant advocate and founder of the California-based Seidlitz Education, said he鈥檚 concerned about the stress raids could place on children.
鈥淎s educators, we have spent years learning about the effects of trauma on educational outcomes,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he threat of ICE presence in schools will have a serious negative impact not only on undocumented students, but on all students attending public schools.鈥
about ICE agents on or near school grounds continue to spread through social media. But it鈥檚 unclear whether immigration agents will actually come to campus. Some school officials have been told their districts are not targets.
Christopher Cram, a spokesperson for Maryland鈥檚 Montgomery County Public Schools, said the school system was led to believe through a virtual call on Friday with immigration officials that campuses are still safe.
鈥淒espite the Department of Homeland Security’s recent statement that ICE agents no longer have to 鈥榟onor鈥 the 鈥榮ensitive locations鈥 guidance, recent comments by ICE officials to Maryland superintendents indicate that there are no plans to visit or take action near schools,鈥 he said.
But the atmosphere remains tense. The Chicago Public Schools reported last week that ICE agents visited one of its campuses only to later realize this : It was the Secret Service on an unrelated matter. But immigration raids were conducted within the past few days and also in among a host of other early locations, including the area and
people in Arizona and New Mexico were caught up in the sweeps. Citing a senior Trump official, Tuesday that immigration authorities made close to 1,200 arrests in just one day, roughly 245 more than initially claimed. Nearly half of those detained don鈥檛 have criminal records, it reported, which Trump had said .
In an effort to prepare for any outcome, and local education agencies have provided school personnel 鈥 and, in some cases, parents 鈥 varying directives. Many reflect the fine line between protecting students鈥 rights and violating federal law.
- The state superintendent of schools in Maryland said in a memo that 鈥渟chool personnel should not argue or debate with immigration enforcement officials but should direct them to the local superintendent or designated administrator for further action.鈥
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina said its administrators must, when told by agents they want to speak to a particular child, attempt to contact their parents and remain with the student during a law enforcement interview. The directive said they 鈥渟hould not interfere with any ICE enforcement action, which may include service or execution of warrants, interviews, searches, or arrests,鈥 but that students have a right against self-incrimination and may not be required to provide information that would establish residency status.
- Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia provided staff with a script, advising them to welcome the agents and say, 鈥淲e will cooperate within the boundaries of the law, but to ensure minimal disruption, please have a seat until the principal arrives.鈥 They鈥檙e further instructed to make copies of any warrants, not allow agents access beyond the vestibule until their identity is confirmed and to document the agent鈥檚 name, badge number, agency affiliation, time, date, and details of the request.
- The School District of Philadelphia asked parents Friday to make sure that all emergency contact information is updated for their children.
- Chicago Public Schools , in English and Spanish, to support immigrant students and their families, saying at a press conference last week: 鈥淩egardless of this policy change, our protocols will remain in place. There is complete alignment here between our state, our city and our district 鈥 CPS does not ask for a family鈥檚 immigration status. CPS will not coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. CPS does not share student records with ICE except in the rare case where there鈥檚 a court order or consent from a parent or guardian.鈥
- Orange County Public Schools in Florida was advised by one of its attorneys to contact students鈥 parents whenever possible to ask for their permission for an ICE agent to interview their child. But, it notes, that if an administrator informs the parent of an interview after being told not to by law enforcement, refuses to leave the room when directed or interferes with a student鈥檚 arrest, they 鈥渕ay be subject to arrest on charges of tampering with a law enforcement investigation or obstructing a law enforcement official.鈥
- Clark County School District in Las Vegas told staff that if there is a concern with the identity of the officer or agent 鈥 or the reason for their visit 鈥 they should call the Clark County School District Police Department.
Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter