Fear of Deportation is a Barrier to Education

Children and families with Minneapolis Families for Public Schools calling for ICE out of schools and Minnesota in January 2026. 

School should be a sanctuary for growth; but today, the looming fear of immigration enforcement seeps into these spaces, threatening countless students’ ability to learn. The Protected Areas Policy, enacted during the Biden Administration, once barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from conducting enforcement actions in educational spaces. However, in pursuit of the Trump Administration’s mass deportation agenda, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded this policy, empowering ICE agents to rely on their “common sense” when taking action in schools. This decision was a choice to treat immigration enforcement as more urgent than the rights of targeted communities, including their children’s right to an education. 

More aggressive immigration policies and increased enforcement activity have fostered widespread fear and stress among immigrant families, particularly as ICE gains the autonomy to operate in formerly protected areas. This fear reverberates through immigrant communities’ daily lives, undermining their broader well-being. Specifically, immigration enforcement compromises the education of children from immigrant families by affecting access to schooling, mental health, and academic performance. Even if ICE raids do not occur on or near school grounds, the possibility that they might is enough to disrupt attendance and achievement.

Research shows that heightened enforcement has led to increasing rates of chronic absenteeism. A 2025 Stanford University study found that immigrant parents across five California districts, where the majority of students are Latinx, and many are children of farm workers with uncertain legal status, “feared being arrested while their children were at school and being deported without them.” Consequently, school counselors and social workers in this region spent their time tracking down missing children and treating their anxieties—work that only exists because of federal policy. 

This case is not isolated. Similar reports across the country have signaled a nationwide sentiment that immigrant families are afraid to send their children to school. In December 2025, 10% of adults from immigrant families reported not sending their children to school, child care, or after-school activities due to a fear of  ICE. Between June and August 2025, 64% of high school principals in the US stated that current policies and rhetoric surrounding immigration caused students from immigrant families to miss school. Absence from school denies children key learning opportunities by removing access not only to academic lessons, but also to the socialization and community-building that occurs in the classroom. Immigration status is not a legitimate reason to deny any child that access, and no administration should be allowed to treat it as one. 

The impacts of immigration enforcement are still felt by immigrant students who show up to school. Fear follows them into their classrooms, worsening students’ overall mental health, as well as their academic performance. Immigration enforcement has sparked fear among children for the safety of their family and friends. Consequently, educators report that when immigration enforcement occurs near schools, the demand for counseling and mental health support rises. Both parents and pediatricians attribute increased anxiety among these children to a variety of health impacts, like behavioral changes, trouble sleeping and eating, and depression. As the current administration forces students to cope with fear and uncertainty, mental health struggles inevitably take priority, leaving less capacity for students to engage in school and focus on learning. 

Intensified immigration enforcement carries negative implications for academic performance, with disproportionate effects on the achievement of students from immigrant backgrounds. Following the 2025 surge in interior immigration enforcement events, students scored lower on standardized math and reading tests, with researchers observing the largest declines in Latinx and English-learning students’ scores. As a result, these communities face barriers to accessing the future education and career opportunities that come with high academic achievement. Immigrant students’ outcomes are shaped not by merit, but by the structural barrier ICE presents in denying them access to a quality K-12 education. 

Until federal policy changes course, schools and teachers are left to protect their students on their own. Many already are, sharing “Know Your Rights” information and defending student privacy rights. Hundreds of school districts have also adopted a Safe Zones policy, which outlines what teachers and school staff should do if ICE engages in enforcement actions at their school. These measures should not be necessary. Schools should not have to create contingency plans against the federal government to protect their students. The safety, well-being, and academic achievement of every student should not hinge on the political fight raging around them, and the federal government should work with schools to protect students, not against them. To begin protecting students, the federal government should reinstate the Protected Areas Policy, so that classrooms are once again off-limits to immigration enforcement and children can learn without fear. 

Image Credit

Photo by Taylor Dahlin via Wikimedia Commons