President Donald Trump is fulfilling his campaign promise to conduct mass deportations by opening the door to targeting immigrants at schools, hospitals, and churches. These places were previously considered “sensitive spaces,” where officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had been prevented from carrying out raids since 2011 and 2013, respectively.
Since Trump took office, ICE agents have been conducting raids across the United States, and have detained and questioned U.S. citizens—including Native Americans and Puerto Ricans—in the process, leading to claims of racial profiling. At one such raid in Chicago, ICE officials were joined by daytime television host Dr. Phil, who livestreamed the event.
An announcement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on January 21 said the directive to allow ICE in sensitive spaces “empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders [sic] and rapists—who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.” The agency’s claim that public schools are harboring criminals and that students who are undocumented are criminals has concerning implications for students and staff in learning communities in all fifty states.
“There’s a real fear here,” says Nicole, the superintendent of a school district in a Chicago suburb who asked that her real name not be used out of concern for the safety of students and teachers in her district. Staff members in her district are asking questions about ICE, she says, “like, ‘What if they show up on the playground? What if they come to the pick-up or drop-off lane?’ . . . . Everybody’s on edge.”
In the wake of the announcement, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former public school teacher and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, promised to protect residents “whether you’re undocumented, whether you are seeking asylum, or whether you’re seeking a good paying job.”
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) told NBC News that despite the DHS policy change, “ICE agents are not permitted access to CPS facilities unless they provide their credentials, the reason they are requesting access, and a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge.”
Public schools, according to the 1982 Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe, must educate children for free no matter their citizenship or immigration status. Nevertheless, The Heritage Foundation—a conservative think tank whose policy book, Project 2025, has been crucial in shaping the agenda of the second Trump Administration—is encouraging states to have their public schools charge tuition for “unaccompanied migrant children as well as children who are in the U.S. with their illegal-alien parents.” If enacted, such policies would likely trigger lawsuits that could ultimately lead to a reconsideration of Plyler v. Doe by the Supreme Court, although expert opinions differ on the likelihood of this ruling being overturned.
Trump’s Department of Justice has emphasized that local officials will face prosecution for “resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands.” The mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City have been called upon by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to testify regarding their city’s statuses as “sanctuary cities,” although this request is not a subpoena and therefore not obligatory.
School districts across the United States are now attempting to reassure parents that their children are safe at school. The Illinois State Board of Education issued guidance similar to that of many other state school boards, advising districts to consult with their own legal counsel to determine how they will handle different types of interactions with ICE. Lauren, a student teacher in Minnesota who asked that her real name not be used out of concern for the safety of students and teachers in her district, tells The Progressive she has attended training sessions outlining which types of warrants permit ICE to enter a school. Her school has also communicated with students and parents regarding their rights, regardless of immigration status.
Among students, Lauren says, “there’s a lot of uncertainty.” One student made it clear during class that they were nervous about the possibility of deportation. Lauren and the lead teacher explained to their students that “the school is going to do what it can to protect them, and school is still a safe space for them to come and learn and be kids. We really try to assure them that they can still come to school and be themselves.”
Openly expressing heritage and ethnic identity has become a concern for some students. “We have kids that are saying things like ‘My mom said, if anyone asks, I should say I’m not Hispanic,’ ” says Nicole. “All of a sudden, our learning community got hijacked by the Trump Administration’s agenda. They’re using our schools—which is not uncommon, but very frustrating—as the political playground to fight their battle.”
The educators Lauren works with, she says, “would much rather be lesson planning and focusing on things that are important to student learning. But instead they have to focus on safety precautions and plans for what happens [if ICE were to show up].”
These policies have already resulted in parents and caregivers keeping their children home from school and church, places where families and young people build community and feel connected. Nicole says that the day after DHS’s announcement, nearly 20 percent of students in her district were absent. “These parents are filled with fear,” she says. She fielded calls all weekend from parents concerned for their children’s safety at school, and notes that parents in this large town have not expressed anger towards the new policies: “I have not had one conversation with anybody who has said anything disrespectful about the Trump Administration or the United States of America. The only thing I’m hearing is just sadness and fear.”
Among the U.S. public, the Trump Administration’s decision to open the door for ICE to raid public schools is wildly unpopular. Only 18 percent of adults in the United States favor arresting children who are in the country illegally while they are at school, and 64 percent oppose the practice, according to a survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Schools, neighbors, and community organizations are now coming together to protect people in sensitive spaces from ICE, particularly children in public schools. Individuals and community organizations have posted on social media and placed “Know Your Rights” flyers on bulletin boards and lampposts advising people to be aware of their rights and learn how to handle an interaction with ICE.
But not every school official is sticking up for their students. Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters made headlines in December, before Trump’s Inauguration, when he proposed a rule that would force students across the state to provide evidence of citizenship or legal immigration status and require districts to track and report the number of students who are unable to do so. Critics say a policy like this could prevent parents from sending their children to school.
With the looming threat of an ICE raid at her school, Lauren says her colleagues are “questioning how much they can put on the line to protect their students. The one concern of all of these educators is how can they keep their students safe.”
Nicole shares similar concerns for the well-being of her students and their families. “These are just good, hard-working people,” she says, “that are trying to make a nice life for themselves and their children.”
Jeff Bryant contributed reporting to this article.