Schools Prepare for Immigration Enforcement as Families Confront Fear

As students return to classrooms this month, school districts are once again priming staff and families on how to respond if federal immigration enforcement activity reaches their school communities.

The academic year is beginning amid new highs in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The agency recently concluded a monthlong operation across the state that detained nearly 2,200 New Yorkers.

More than a dozen school districts across Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties told the Times Union they are turning to state guidance on the issue. That guidance, which was updated in December, affirms students’ right to an education regardless of immigration status under a 1982 Supreme Court decision, and it outlines federal protections for records containing sensitive information about students. It also recommends several practices for districts to consider if a student’s caregiver is detained.

There are further state protections under Executive Order 170.1, which prohibits immigration enforcement officers from conducting operations on school grounds without a warrant. That protection remains in place despite President Donald Trump’s administration removing schools from a list of formerly designated sensitive spaces.

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National research organizations have sounded the alarm about the impact fear has on immigrant families and their children. In a survey of high school principals conducted by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, one New York principal, who was anonymous in the report, described this population as living in a “culture of fear.” The National Immigration Law Center pointed to increased psycho-emotional trauma and its impact on academic performance. And the Urban Institute, a Washington-based think tank, found that immigrant families with children are opting out of essential activities like sending children to school.

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