Last month, immigration scholar Sophia Rodriguez, PhD, published a report in partnership with the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) that explores the broad range of impacts that increased ICE activity near public schools has had on students, faculty, and families.
The report highlights many of the negative consequences that immigration advocates predicted when President Donald Trump took office again in 2025 and promised to crack down on immigrants of all walks of life.
Some of these impacts include a culture of fear that has affected all students as well as “severe psycho-emotional trauma” for students most at risk of having their families separated as a result of increased immigration enforcement, and a “chilling effect” that has contributed to a rise in absenteeism and drops in enrollment.
It’s not all bad news, though. The report also details the counter-strategies families, students, and faculty have used to protect as many people as they can. These include generating protocols to protect students when arriving at or leaving school. In other cases, faculty have organized “Know Your Rights” campaigns to help educate students and families about how to protect themselves from ICE.
The report also outlines several policy initiatives states and cities can take on to protect students and staff at local schools like expanding legal aid infrastructures, hiring legal experts within school districts to help decode changing immigration policy, and establishing schools as protected spaces where ICE cannot operate.
The mass deportation regime has had significant impacts on the social and economic well-being of immigrants and U.S.-born people alike. This new report from NILC shows how the tactics ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are using to round up and detain immigrants that are ripping apart families are also causing widespread community fear. It’s a good sign that schools are taking actions to protect students and families, but they need systemic policy support to make that job easier.
Read the full report here: https://media.nilc.org/2026/08/Immigration-Enforcement-in-Schools-Final.pdf