Opinion: ICE enforcement terrorizes school communities

Like most parents, I would do anything to protect my children. I consider myself vigilant: I cut their grapes in half to prevent choking, I have taught them our phone number nestled in an easy-to-remember song in case they get lost, and I have spent countless hours sitting on the side of the pool so they can safely learn to swim.

Yet I still found myself unprepared last February when my four-year-old turned to me during dinner at a local restaurant and said with tangible fear in his voice, “Mommy, please don’t talk to the police. I don’t want them to take you away.” My heart dropped as I realized he was talking about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and that he must have overheard someone speaking at his Spanish-immersion preschool. How could I explain that I, a white citizen, do not need to worry about being detained by ICE, but I could not say the same for so many others who love and nurture him?

If my son, who is also a white, U.S.-born citizen, is afraid that ICE will take me, I can’t stop thinking about how other children in our communities must feel. What about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s son, who was in the backseat of the car when his father was arrested and deported to a prison in El Salvador? Or the children of Maria Gonzalez, who was detained in an ICE raid and separated from her children before being released. Why should any child in this country grow up with that fear?

It is no coincidence that my children have developed their fear of ICE at school. The day after Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded the 2011 “sensitive locations” policy that was expanded by Biden in 2021, allowing ICE agents to enter buildings previously designated as sensitive, including K-12 schools, hospitals, and churches. In recent months, there has been a documented uptick in enforcement near schools, and multiple cases of parents being arrested during routine school drop-offs. The latest data shows that arrests of undocumented residents in the D.C. area with no criminal record are spiking. As a result, these policies aren’t just targeting undocumented families — they’re instilling fear in entire communities. 

Sure enough, as ICE carried out a surge of enforcement against restaurants and delivery drivers in May, we got an alert that my six-year-old’s school might also be a target. The school administration was ready, the staff was trained, and the parents jumped into action, forming an impressive and robust rapid response network from one day to the next. However, the children became collateral damage, bearing the emotional weight of all the uncertainty. Their teachers and staff are, very understandably, on edge, and my children notice the strain, the worry, and the fear that continues to grow.   

The fear of my children pales in comparison, of course, to the fear of children whose families may be at risk. The week of the ICE surge, friends of ours from El Salvador elected to keep their children home, rather than to risk an ICE encounter at school. A Venezuelan friend, who has Temporary Protected Status, told me she takes her ten- and seven-year-old children with her everywhere she goes, terrified she might be deported without them. These joyful children, whom I have watched learning English and making friends in their public school, are not allowed out of the house when the whole family is home. Not even to play in the backyard.  

As for us, I haven’t figured out how to calm my children’s fears, and it breaks my heart to watch them suffer. It enrages me that this administration is taking away my ability to protect them, and my right to parent them in a safe and supportive community. 

ICE has no place in schools, no matter the neighborhood or student body. School district action plans should include protective measures for students such as immediately contacting school district lawyers, restricting access to classrooms and other private areas without a warrant, and understanding what student information can and cannot be legally shared with ICE. Schools should train all staff, including front desk personnel, on these procedures and clearly communicate to parents what they are doing to keep their students safe while in their care. Finally, parents can approach their school principals to ask what guidelines are in place to protect their children. Our children deserve to feel safe at school and never doubt that they will be reunited with their families when the school day is over.

Sarah Walker McRae is a parent and community advocate in Washington, D.C., where her children attend Spanish immersion and bilingual public schools. She volunteers with a local migrant solidarity network and participates in rapid-response and “know your rights” efforts to support immigrant families. She holds a master’s degree in International Affairs with a focus on Latin America.