In recent days, at least eight sizable public school districts in the US have pledged to work toward shielding undocumented immigrant students and their families from the widespread deportation campaign of President Donald Trump.
Restrictions that prohibited Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting raids at alleged sensitive areas, such as schools (as well as houses of worship and hospitals), have been lifted by the Trump administration.
Public school districts are primarily exempt from inquiring about or maintaining records of their students’ compliance with immigration rules since, according to the Education Department, all children in the United States are entitled to a public education, regardless of their legal status.
However, teachers’ and families’ concerns have grown as a result of Trump’s recent moves to restrict sensitive areas, and school districts are now attempting to mitigate the potential negative effects of the policy changes.
This has been particularly true in large, blue-leaning cities with sizable undocumented immigrant populations that already have sanctuary policies in place—laws that aim to restrict or prohibit local officials from working with federal immigration authorities as part of larger initiatives to provide a sense of security for undocumented immigrants.
Several large public school systems in those places have committed to complicating the attempts by making it more difficult for authorities to reach school grounds and by either refusing to disclose information to federal immigration authorities or obstructing cooperation with them.
Chicago and Denver are on the more aggressive end of the spectrum; in recent weeks, their sizable public school districts have released guidelines urging officials to either erect high access barriers or restrict immigration officers from entering school property.
Chicago Public Schools said in a statement last week that ICE agents are not allowed to enter CPS facilities under the city’s sanctuary city laws, known as its Welcoming City Ordinance, unless they present their credentials, a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge, and the reason for their request.
According to the statement, CPS will not allow ICE agents to enter the country on the basis of an administrative warrant, an ICE detainer, or any other document issued by an organization that enforces civil immigration law.
Although the District is aware that there is an executive order to remove wording pertaining to sensitive places, including schools, Chicago Public Schools stated in the statement that district personnel will not provide ICE with private information.
This month, Alex Marrero, the superintendent of Denver Public Schools, issued specific guidelines for school officials to deny admission to government representatives who show up at school buildings without a business or appointment.
According to Marrero’s guidelines, you should deny admission to any government official who shows up at your school asking for information or to enter if they are not a person who has an appointment or business with someone there.
After that, officials are instructed to put the school under a secure lockdown and use the intercom to speak with government representatives. According to the guidelines, school employees must remain in the front office and put the school on lockdown if government representatives have already entered the premises.
School authorities are instructed to request a court order or a warrant. According to the guidelines, government agents should be sent to the district lawyers regardless of whether one is offered.
But the guidelines also tell school officials not to physically block, disrupt, or interfere with a government official’s ability to carry out their job.
Trump turned back sensitive location protocols prior to the guideline’s release, but Marrero said in a second statement Friday that “the guidance was developed with” that move “in mind.”
The approach with ICE agents, however, is really no different from what we do with anyone who shows up at a school door; we make sure they have an appointment or are on school business, and if they don’t, we keep them outside, said Denver Public Schools spokesperson Scott Pribble in an interview on Monday.
Pribble stated, “We’re doing the same thing with any government official that shows up.”
In recent days, Democratic governor Kathy Hochul and state attorney general Letitia James issued guidance to some of New York’s largest school districts, including New York City Public Schools and several districts in Westchester County. The guidelines instruct school officials to prevent officers from entering school premises to access students unless there is an immediate safety concern or a court order or warrant requires it.
In an email, a White House spokesperson responded to NBC News’ inquiries regarding the cities’ strategies by writing, “By ending the absurd policy of exempting many locations from enforcement of the law and giving criminal illegal aliens places to hide and avoid arrest, this action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and make our country safer; it is NOT a directive to go into schools and churches.”
The spokesman further stated that “secondary supervisor approval is also needed before any action can be taken in locations such as a church or school,” stating that “we expect these situations to be extremely rare.”
When asked if there had been any immigration raids on any public school property since Trump’s election, the spokeswoman responded that “no enforcement operations have occurred at schools or churches.”
No public reports of immigration raids on public school property had surfaced as of Monday night. On Friday, Chicago Public Schools made the first report that immigration officers visited a school. But it soon became clear that the agents were from the Secret Service, not ICE, as district authorities had first said, and that they were looking into a threat related to the TikTok ban rather than an immigration issue.
According to Viridiana Carrizales, co-founder of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that educates schools on student rights and how to handle interactions with immigration officials, her team has received more than 100 requests from educational institutions nationwide for advice on how to handle the sensitive locations policy change implemented by the Trump administration.
“We know that immigration will come to our schools, so it’s not a case of if,” Carrizales stated. As a result, educational districts have made several requests and questions.
While some school officials eventually stated they would cooperate with ICE agents who arrive at public schools, guidance in other large districts in the US was more specifically focused on reminding them that they are not required to provide any requested information about their students.
In response to inquiries from NBC News, Monique Braxton, a representative for the School District of Philadelphia, shared a document on Monday that instructed school administrators to follow in the event that an ICE agent requests access to a school and requests to interview or detain a student for immigration enforcement.
In those circumstances, the guidance instructed school officials to inform district attorneys, collect documentation from the agents, wait for additional instructions from the district’s attorneys, and develop school crisis response plans in collaboration with the district’s Office of Prevention and Intervention.
According to the plan, unless instructed by district attorneys, school officials are not allowed to divulge any information regarding a student’s family or immigration status.
“The District will comply with required laws, and school leaders have been provided guidance about how to protect our immigrant students’ rights,” said Tony B. Watlington Sr., superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, in a statement to NBC News. He also aimed to reaffirm the School District of Philadelphia’s commitment to creating safe, welcoming spaces for our students and families.
The Salt Lake City School District recently released advice stating that it would not provide federal officials with information about any student’s immigration status.
The superintendent of the Canutillo Independent School District, a public school district located in El Paso, Texas, expressed concerns about how changes in immigration policy could affect communities like ours while stating that the district will maintain its strong partnership with ICE and other law enforcement agencies in a statement posted on the district’s website, Safe Haven.
In a statement released over the weekend, Superintendent Pedro Galaviz said that while collaborations with ICE have been crucial to preserving campus safety and security, our dedication to safety will never come at the price of our students’ rights or their ability to receive quality instruction.
We are dedicated to offering stability, assurance, and assistance regardless of their situation,” he continued.