Trump’s D.C. Takeover Is Scaring Immigrant Parents Out of Taking Kids Back to School

Washington, D.C.’s large immigrant population is facing a reign of terror: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have flooded neighborhoods with large Latino populations, imposing checkpoints and hanging a threat over families’ heads as kids and parents prepare to go back to school next week. 

Instead of worrying about having the right notebooks for the school year, many families are now afraid of getting detained by ICE on their way to school drop-off and pickup, three school staff members and local organizers told The Intercept. Teachers claim that the D.C. school system has been unhelpful, treating the situation as business as usual and even discouraging organizers from providing guidance to families on school grounds.

“Most parents’ biggest concern is that something will happen to them on the way to school in front of their children,” said Hillary, an elementary school teacher in the city who asked to be identified by her first name because she was concerned her activism might get her school targeted by ICE, “or it’s going to happen before they’ve been able to pick up their children from school, and there will be no one to come get their kids.”

The climate of fear is fueled by multiple levels of intensified federal policing. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to deploy the National Guard to the District of Columbia. The Trump administration subsequently federalized the local police force and ordered further co-operation between them and ICE officials. And upon entering office in January, Trump revoked the sensitive zones memo that once prevented ICE from operating within schools, hospitals, and churches. 

In May, Hillary and a group of other teachers, parents, and community volunteers formed a rapid response team to counter increased ICE and homeland security presence in D.C. They alerted families of suspected immigration enforcement presence and offered services like walking children to their parents’ cars. They’re anticipating they’ll need to increase their efforts as school starts in the coming week.

“[We’re] trying to get walking groups. So if parents are maybe uncomfortable walking students to school by themselves or picking students up by themselves, we might have school staff, volunteers in the neighborhood, parents in the school who are providing a safe passage,” Hillary said, adding that she knows several other schools are pursuing similar efforts.

Amy Fischer, an organizer with the D.C. group Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid, said she’s been working alongside volunteers like Hillary to protect immigrant families as they head back to school next week. She said undocumented parents weren’t the only immigrants who needed community protection.

“So many of the people are asylum-seekers who have pending asylum applications, they have a work permit, and under the law, should not be detained because they have a pending asylum claim,” Fischer said. “But many, many of those people are being picked up.”

Fischer said that this is all uncharted territory for D.C. residents. “We previously never had checkpoints in D.C., and the previous types of enforcement that we had were much more targeted, so they would be going after a specific individual, not just sort of random pickups on the street,” she said.

Despite the fear, Fischer said that residents have been largely stepping up to help find solutions for families, whether that’s offering to give students rides or walking them to school. 

But even with added support, some families are still scared to return to school next week.

“I talked to a parent today who has been hiding in their apartment since there was a raid next to their building,” said an elementary school teacher who has been assisting with the emergency carpools. “They’ve not left their house since over a week ago. So they weren’t planning on sending their kids.” 

The teacher, who requested anonymity because they were concerned about retaliation from the school district and ICE against their school, said they offered to arrange for someone else to take their child to and from school, which the parent is considering. 

“A fear of being detained is kind of consistent across the board,” the teacher said. Some parents have even suggested that schools should offer remote learning, despite the evidence that it can bring worsening educational and mental health outcomes for children.

Both teachers who spoke to The Intercept said the District of Columbia Public Schools system, known as DCPS, has been slow to provide schools and teachers with guidance on how to protect their classrooms in the event of ICE activity and actively discouraged school staff from sharing information with families about their rights. “They’ve just been sitting on their hands,” said the elementary school teacher.

According to Hillary, the district is “almost acting like nothing has really changed, and that we do not have families who are in an increased amount of danger right now.”

In a statement to The Intercept, a DCPS spokesperson said, “Our leaders, educators, and staff care deeply about the safety of our students, and DCPS will continue to share safety guidance and reminders with students as they commute to and from their school campuses next week and beyond.”

Hillary added that the school district discouraged her and other teachers from providing families with information about their legal rights on school grounds. And the other elementary school teacher said that DCPS told principals “not to speak up” on the issue.

“We were doing a lot of that in May. Unfortunately, the district kind of let it be known that they were not super supportive of us doing that on school grounds,” she said. “It has had to kind of be in quieter ways that we’re getting that information out to parents, and it’s having to come a lot more through not official channels.”

The DCPS spokesperson did not comment on whether staff had been discouraged from organizing, but said the district “has not discouraged parents or caregivers from hosting information sessions or organizing carpools.”

“DCPS cooperates with law enforcement officers bearing lawful court orders,” the spokesperson said. “Our principals have been advised to alert the district’s legal team for immediate assistance and support.”

Hillary said she worried about the impact on children whose families ultimately felt they couldn’t risk sending their kids to school. 

“We saw from Covid, even a couple weeks’ absence can have a really big effect on kids’ learning and on their mental health,” she said. “You’re not going to get a chance to build community with your classmates. And then we also know school is a place where a lot of kids get fed.” 

She said she’s been encouraged by the outpouring of community support, but she worries about keeping up the momentum if the ICE presence remains as the year drags on.

“Right now people are really activated,” Hillary said, “but how long are we going to be able to keep that going?”

The post Trump’s D.C. Takeover Is Scaring Immigrant Parents Out of Taking Kids Back to School appeared first on The Intercept.