The Oregon community where Gustavo Balderas served as the school superintendent was terrified by tales of immigration raids during the previous administration of Donald Trump.
There were rumors that immigration officers might attempt to enter schools. Staff members had to track down pupils who were skipping class and persuade them to return, even though there was no truth to it.
“People simply began to hide and duck,” Balderas added.
Regardless of whether the president-elect fulfills his promise to deport millions of illegal immigrants, educators across are preparing for chaos. Children of immigrants will suffer even if he just discusses it, according to legal experts and educators.
According to Hiroshi Motomura, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, “continually threatening people with the possibility of mass deportation really inhibits their ability to function in society and for their kids to get an education.”
Gustavo Balderas, superintendent of Beaverton School District, stands for a photo outside of the Beaverton school district administrative office in Beaverton, Ore., Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
Image courtesy of Amanda Loman/Associated Press
For many, that terror has already begun.
Almudena Abeyta, the administrator of Chelsea Public Schools, a Boston neighborhood that has historically served as a first port of call for Central American immigrants traveling to Massachusetts, stated that although the children are still attending school, they are afraid. Haitian families are now relocating to the city and sending their children to school there.
They want to know if we will be deported. Abeyta said.
Since many parents in her district grew up in nations where schools were run by the federal government, they could assume that this is the case here. Abeyta assured parents in a letter sent home the day after the election that their children will be safe and welcome regardless of the president.
At schools, immigration officers have refrained from making arrests of parents or pupils. Immigration officers are not allowed to make arrests or carry out other enforcement operations close to sensitive sites, such as schools, hospitals, or houses of worship, according to a regulation that has been in place since 2011. In a 2021 policy update, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated that doing so could limit access to vital services.
The advise on sensitive areas should be revoked, according to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s policy agenda for Trump’s second term. Although Trump made an effort to disassociate himself from the suggestions throughout the campaign, he nominated Tom Homan for border czar and numerous other individuals who contributed to the plan for his new administration.
According to Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, if immigration officials detained a parent bringing off children at school, it might cause widespread panic.
According to her, if something occurs at one school, it spreads like wildfire and students stop attending.
In Beaverton, another Portland suburb, Balderas, who is currently the superintendent, warned the school committee last month that it was time to get ready for a more determined Trump administration. Beaverton will train employees to prevent immigration officials from entering schools if they are targeted.
Balderas, the president of ASSA, the School Superintendents Association, stated that all bets are off with Trump. If something does occur, it will probably happen far more quickly than it did the last time.
Many school officials are reluctant to talk about their plans or concerns, some out of fear of drawing attention to their immigrant students. One school administrator serving many children of Mexican and Central American immigrants in the Midwest said their school has invited immigration attorneys to help parents formalize any plans for their children s care in case they are deported. The administrator spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Speaking up on behalf of immigrant families also can put superintendents at odds with school board members.
This is a very delicate issue, said Viridiana Carrizales, chief executive officer of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that trains schools on supporting immigrant students.
She s received 30 requests for help since the election, including two from Texas superintendents who don t think their conservative school boards would approve of publicly affirming immigrant students right to attend school or district plans to turn away immigration agents.
More than two dozen superintendents and district communications representatives contacted by The Associated Press either ignored or declined requests for comment.
This is so speculative that we would prefer not to comment on the topic, wrote Scott Pribble, a spokesperson for Denver Public Schools.
The city of Denver has helped more than 40,000 migrants in the last two years with shelter or a bus ticket elsewhere. It s also next door toAurora, one of two cities where Trump has said he wouldstart his mass deportations.
When pressed further, Pribble responded, Denver Public Schools is monitoring the situation while we continue to serve, support, and protect all of our students as we always have.
Like a number of big-city districts, Denver s school board during the first Trump administration passed a resolution promising to protect its students from immigration authorities pursuing them or their information. According to the 2017 resolution, Denver will not grant access to our students unless federal agents can provide a valid search warrant.
The rationale has been that students cannot learn if they fear immigration agents will take them or their parents away while they re on campus. School districts also say these policies reaffirm their students constitutional right to a free, public education, regardless of immigration status.
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