High school principals across California and the country say raids by Immigration, Customs Enforcement and Enforcement officials have fueled a “climate of distress” among immigrant students who have been bullied on campus and whose attendance has dropped, according to a study released Tuesday.
Seventy percent of public high school principals surveyed said students from immigrant families have expressed fears for themselves or their families due to ICE crackdowns or political rhetoric related to immigrants, according to researchers' report at UCLA and UC Riverside.
The findings echo the narrative that schools and districts across Southern California have been reporting since President Trump took office in January and launched aggressive policies. immigration raids.
One California principal told researchers she saw staff members “crying over a student.”
“It’s just not very American,” she added.
John Rogers, a UCLA education professor who co-authored the report, said it was “striking” that principals “in every region of the country report fear and concern in their school communities related to immigration enforcement.”
Researchers surveyed 606 public high school principals from May to August to understand how schools were affected by Trump's immigration measures. More than one in three principals, about 36%, said students from immigrant backgrounds had been bullied, and 64% said their attendance had declined.
The drop in attendance was confirmed by other researchers who collected data from California's Central Valley and northeastern states. There was also decline in K-12 enrollment The number is at least in the tens of thousands, affecting cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami, according to data provided by school district officials.
School principals, including those in Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan, have noticed an increase in students using hostile and derogatory language toward classmates from immigrant backgrounds. Some say the political climate, which has normalized attacks on immigrants, is to blame.
The vast majority of principals surveyed, nearly 78%, said their campuses have plans in place to respond to visits from federal agents, and nearly half have a plan in place if a student's parents are deported.
Los Angeles County Schools have been leaders in this effort, taking rapid and unprecedented steps to protect and reassure families. For example, LA Unified has provided some students with direct transportation home to school.
Their fears are not unfounded. In April, Los Angeles directors immigration agents turned away who tried to enroll in two primary schools, claiming that he was conducting a medical examination with the permission of his family. School district officials said there was no such approval.
At a public meeting in November, Los Angeles school board member Carla Griego said a parent was taken into custody on the way to a school meeting about an updated education plan to manage his child's disability.
Charter schools have also taken steps to reassure families. In the days following the major ICE raid in Los Angeles, attendance Morgan McKinsey Alliance High School In East Los Angeles, rates have dropped from the typical high of 90% to a low of 90%, according to school principal Rosa Menendez.
“A lot of our families were really hurt and scared,” Menendez said. “Many of our children are afraid to come to school.”
Last summer, ICE stepped up raids and the charter school stepped up surveillance, stationing officers around bus and train stations to monitor students' arrivals and departures. The school will be open during winter break, offering sports, video games, and arts and crafts to provide a safe place for students to learn.
Immigration enforcement is a personal matter for Menendez, who is the child of Salvadoran immigrants and has undocumented family members.
“Coming on the heels of COVID, we were trying to keep our kids safe and healthy, and now this is a whole different level of safety,” Menendez said. “But we're also worried about our own families… It does add a lot of stress.”
The Department of Homeland Security issued an order earlier this year. statement stating that ICE “does not raid or attack schools.” However, the Trump administration in January canceled long-standing protection for “sensitive” locations, which have prevented ICE from arresting people at schools and churches since 2011.
Dual Duty to Protect and Teach
In addition to the survey, the researchers conducted 49 follow-up Zoom interviews with principals selected to reflect school diversity. The names are being withheld due to concerns that their schools could be targeted by immigration controls.
One California principal, whose school is located in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood, told researchers that her school's sense of safety evaporated in the spring when news of nearby ICE raids surfaced during an assembly.
The story echoed the anxiety that gripped Huntington Park High School's spring graduation ceremony when ICE began raiding the nearby Home Depot.
Principals noted that parents are torn between keeping themselves and family members safe and supporting their children's education. At Los Angeles high schools last spring, many parents decided not to attend prom.
Immigration doesn't just affect students. Many school staff feel a “double sense of duty” to protect and teach, the California superintendent said.
The administrator also said teachers have joined local immigrant rights networks, walking neighborhood blocks every day before school to ensure a safe route to campus. One teacher, whose father is undocumented, often worries about suspicious cars in the school parking lot, the principal said.
“[W]We always want to make sure we're not caught off guard,” she said. In addition to lingering concerns about a potential active shooter situation, she now worries daily that ICE agents will show up. “It’s a lot,” she added.
Maria Nichols, president of the Los Angeles Administrators Association and a former LAUSD superintendent, praised the district for moving quickly to provide school officials with protocols to follow in the event of a raid. But she said the principal's job has become even more onerous because LAUSD staff cuts have led to fewer assistant principals.
“The leader, of course, is responsible for logistics, protocols and procedural issues, but … he also has to lift up his school and his community,” Nichols said. “They're in a crisis right now, and it's a very, very difficult and difficult loss at a time when there is less human capital in schools.”
School leaders across the country echoed the California superintendent's sentiments.
An Idaho school principal told researchers she worries every day that ICE agents might show up with a warrant to detain students. “As a building manager,” she said, “I feel like I'm responsible for their safety. I hate it because I don't feel like I can protect them.”
