Immigration agents can now more easily make arrests and carry out raids on school property, after the Trump administration overturned a 13-year-old policy aimed at preventing immigration enforcement from getting in the way of people accessing essential services.
Under a directive announced Tuesday night, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol agents no longer have to honor 鈥渟ensitive locations鈥� when conducting enforcement activities.
For more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has had an internal policy that has generally prevented agents from making arrests at schools, places of worship, and hospitals without permission from agency headquarters.
The move to revoke that policy, issued by Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman on Monday, Jan. 20, comes on the heels of several other actions President Donald Trump 鈥攊ncluding orders that seek to end birthright citizenship and suspend the refugee admissions program鈥攍aying the groundwork for the mass deportation he consistently promised on the campaign trail last year.
鈥淭he Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,鈥� a spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department said in a prepared statement.
An immigration policy expert raised concerns about ramped-up immigration enforcement having a 鈥渃hilling effect鈥� that could leave families fearful about sending their children to school.
鈥淲ith each new raid or series of high-profile arrests...school districts are really bracing for what the impacts might be on parents鈥� willingness or fears about even driving their children to school, fears about enforcement on school grounds,鈥� said Margie McHugh, director of the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy for the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank focused on immigration policy.
In light of the policy change, legal experts and immigration advocates urged schools to act on their legal responsibilities to safeguard and educate all children, regardless of immigration status.
The 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe guaranteed undocumented students the constitutional right to a free, public education.
鈥淚f administrators were to willy nilly open their campuses up to ICE enforcement action, that would be a Plyler violation, because you would chill the exercise of the right [to a free, public education],鈥� said Hector Villagra, the vice president of policy advocacy and community education at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, whose attorneys represented plaintiffs in the landmark 1982 case.
Experts advise school leaders to set up protocols for what to do if ICE officials arrive on school campuses or request student information. Another federal law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, keeps most student information confidential without parents鈥� permission to release it.
Roughly 4.4 million children in the United States live with undocumented parents, and about 850,000 children were undocumented themselves in 2022,
Trump鈥檚 approach to immigration has been a fear for educators since the election, after Project 2025鈥攁 conservative policy agenda developed by a number of Trump allies and former officials from Trump鈥檚 first administration鈥� policies like one on sensitive locations.
Changing this policy was fully within the Trump administration鈥檚 purview, as it existed only as an internal department policy, instructing agents to seek approval from agency headquarters before carrying out any enforcement activities in or near protected areas.
The policy has been in place , during the Obama administration鈥攊nitially listing schools, churches, hospitals, religious ceremonies, and public demonstrations as 鈥渟ensitive locations.鈥� It remained in place during Trump鈥檚 first administration, and former President Joe Biden鈥檚 Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, to also include places where children gather鈥攑laygrounds, school bus stops, child care centers, and after-school programs鈥攁nd disaster relief distribution spots.
In anticipation of the policy change under Trump, some districts have already outlined what their staff should do if immigration agents come calling, including that they should refer all inquiries from ICE to school attorneys.
State and school leaders in California rebuked the federal policy change on Jan. 22. Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, pointed schools to his office released in December outlining how school staff should handle requests from ICE, .
That guide tells schools that they aren鈥檛 compelled to provide ICE agents with access to student records if they only have an administrative warrant as opposed to a warrant signed by a judge. The guide also reminds schools of their obligations under federal law not to release private student information without their parents鈥� consent.
Newly arrived migrants have been the target of Trump鈥檚 unceasing barbs. During the 2024 campaign, he called them 鈥渄angerous,鈥� said they were from 鈥渕ental institutions,鈥� and claimed that they would 鈥減rey on our people.鈥�
The harmful language seeped into schools around Trump鈥檚 first election in 2016; educators were prepared for the same in November as racist texts and rhetoric circulated.
The Homeland Security Department鈥檚 statement on Tuesday night declared that, 鈥淐riminals will no longer be able to hide in America鈥檚 schools and churches to avoid arrest.鈥�
Recent polls have generally found high levels of support for Trump鈥檚 immigration agenda, though it鈥檚 not unqualified.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found in an early January poll that many U.S. adults support increased security at the southern border and some deportations, but Trump鈥檚 executive actions on immigration go beyond what people are comfortable with.
Allowing the arrest of people in the country illegally at places like churches and schools was highly unpopular in the survey. Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults somewhat or strongly favor arresting children who are in the country illegally while they are at school. A majority, about 6 in 10, oppose these kinds of arrests. Even Republicans aren鈥檛 fully on board鈥攍ess than half favor arrests of children in schools or people at church, according to the AP poll.
Tighter immigration enforcement during Trump鈥檚 first term reverberated in schools. In 2018, nearly 80 percent of educators reported having students who experienced emotional or behavioral problems because they were concerned about immigration enforcement. A portion of those educators said that students felt 鈥渘early overwhelmed by fear and worry.鈥�
Opponents of Trump鈥檚 sweeping actions fear the ripple effects they could have on schools鈥攊ncluding the possibility that they could keep students from attending.
鈥淚f a whole bunch of kids鈥攚here their only chance in life is to get a great education鈥攊f somehow, because of the fear and the hatred, their parents decide to keep them safe and not send them to school? Devastating consequences,鈥� Arne Duncan, who served as Democratic President Barack Obama鈥檚 first secretary of education, said during a panel discussion with other former education secretaries on Tuesday.
