ICE raids translate to bullying, missing class, academic struggles

High school principals in California and across the country say raids by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement have created a “climate of distress” among immigrant students who are bullied on campus and whose attendance has plummeted, according to a study released Tuesday.

Seventy percent of public high school principals surveyed said students from immigrant families expressed fear for themselves or their families due to crackdowns from ICE or political rhetoric about immigrants. report prepared by researchers at UCLA and UC Riverside.

The findings mirror reports from schools and districts across Southern California since President Trump took office in January and began aggressive immigration raids.

A California principal told investigators that he saw staff members “burst into tears over a student.”

“It doesn’t feel very American,” he added.

UCLA education professor John Rogers, who co-authored the report, said it was “striking” that “principals in every district of the country are talking about fear and anxiety in their school communities about immigration enforcement.”

Researchers surveyed 606 public high school principals from May to August to understand how schools were affected by Trump’s immigration enforcement. More than 1 in 3 principals, or about 36%, said students from immigrant families had been bullied, and 64% said their attendance had decreased.

A decline in participation was confirmed by other researchers who collected data from California’s Central Valley and Northeastern states. There has also been a decline in K-12 enrollment by at least tens of thousands, affecting cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami, according to figures provided by school district officials.

School principals in Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan have noticed an increase in the number of students using hostile and derogatory language towards classmates from immigrant families. Some blamed this on a political climate that normalized attacks on immigrants.

The majority of principals surveyed (about 78%) said their campuses make plans to respond to visits by federal agents, and nearly half have a contingency plan in case the student’s parents are deported.

In this effort, schools in Los Angeles County have led the way, taking swift and unprecedented action to protect and reassure families. For example, LA Unified has provided direct home-to-school transportation for some students.

Their fears are not without reason. In April, Los Angeles principals turned away immigration officers trying to enter two elementary schools, claiming they were conducting medical checks with family permission. School district officials said no such permission was granted.

At a public meeting in November, Los Angeles school board member Karla Griego reported that a parent was detained while attending a school meeting about an updated education plan for managing his child’s disabilities.

Charter schools have also taken measures to reassure families. Turnout rates in the days following a major ICE raid in Los Angeles Alliance Morgan McKinzie High School In East Los Angeles, it has shifted from the typical high 90% range to the low 90s, principal Rosa Menendez said.

“A lot of our families are really impacted and horrified,” Menendez said. “Most of our children are afraid of coming to school”

As ICE raids increased last summer, the charter school stepped up enforcement by posting staff around bus and train stations to monitor students’ arrivals and departures. The school will remain open throughout the winter break and will offer sports, video games, and arts and crafts so students have a safe place to go.

For Menendez, who is the child of Salvadoran immigrants and has undocumented family members, immigration enforcement is personal.

“Right after COVID, we were trying to keep our kids safe and healthy, and now this has become a whole other layer of safety,” Menendez said. “But we also worry about our own families… It creates a very intense layer of stress.”

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security released a report. expression He says ICE “does not raid or target schools.” But the Trump administration in January rescinded longstanding protections for “sensitive” locations that had prevented ICE from arresting people at schools and churches since 2011.

Protecting and teaching double duty

In addition to the survey, researchers conducted 49 follow-up Zoom calls with principals selected to reflect diverse school mixes. Names were withheld due to concerns that their schools could become targets of immigration enforcement.

A California principal whose school is located in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood told researchers that his school’s sense of safety evaporated when news of nearby ICE raids broke during an assembly in the spring.

That narrative was an echo of the unease that spread during the spring graduation ceremony at Huntington Park High School when an ICE raid began at the adjacent Home Depot.

Principals said parents are torn between keeping themselves and their family members safe and supporting their children’s education. Many parents at high schools in Los Angeles chose not to attend last spring’s graduation ceremony.

Immigration enforcement doesn’t just affect students. The California principal said many school staff felt a “double sense of duty” to both protect and teach.

This administrator also said teachers join local immigrant rights networks and walk the neighborhood’s blocks each day before going to school to ensure a safe route to campus. The principal said a teacher whose father was undocumented often worried about suspicious cars in the school parking lot.

“[W]We always want to make sure we’re not caught off guard,” he said. Along with longstanding fears about a potential active shooter situation, he now worries about ICE agents showing up every day. “It’s too much,” he added.

Maria Nichols, president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles and former LAUSD superintendent, praised the district for taking quick action to provide school leaders with protocols to follow in the event of a raid. But the principal’s job has become more burdensome, he said, as LAUSD staffing cuts have reduced the number of assistant principals.

“The leader is responsible for logistics, protocols and procedural matters, of course, but they must also elevate their schools and their communities,” said Nichols. “They’re facing a crisis right now, and at a time when there’s less human capital in schools, it’s very, very difficult and it’s a heavy price to pay.”

School leaders across the country echoed the California principal’s sentiments.

An Idaho principal told researchers he worries every day about ICE agents showing up with court orders to detain students. “As the house leader,” he said, “I feel responsible for their safety. I hate it because I don’t think I can protect them.”