A law enforcement surge has taken a toll on children of immigrants in Washington schools

All three of the couple's children were born in the nation's capital, and the older two attend a local charter school. She planned to keep them home until a volunteer offered to drive them. Still, one of the boys was so upset over his father's absence he missed three days of school one week.

Schools in Washington reopened late last month against the backdrop of a law enforcement surge that brought masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into normally quiet neighborhoods, scenes likely to be replicated elsewhere as President Donald Trump dispatches federal agents to the streets of other big cities.

In some Washington communities, the fear spread by the police presence has taken a toll on children. Some students have had parents swept up in the crackdown. Other students fear they or their family members could be next. Parents are grappling with how to explain the situation.

“In my community, the impact has been immense fear and terror that is threatening student safety getting to and from school every day,” said Ben Williams, a high school social studies teacher who also serves on the District of Columbia State Board of Education. “It is really making everyone feel on edge every day as to whether someone, a community member or a parent or someone that is close or connected to the community, could be taken.”

Arrests instill fear

In northwest Washington's Mount Pleasant neighborhood, where million-dollar rowhouses and affordable apartments home to immigrant families share the same tree-lined blocks, federal agents became a common sight and neighbors documented several arrests.

Raul Cortez, an immigrant from El Salvador, said his 7-year-old son has grown deeply afraid of police.

“The children pay attention. They are very intelligent, and they know what is happening,” Cortez said.

A few moments later, his son caught sight of an idling police car. His eyes widened.

Mindful that some parents were afraid of leaving the house, volunteers began organizing “walking buses” to accompany groups of children by foot from apartment buildings to schools. Outside Bancroft Elementary, which teaches students in English and Spanish, volunteers are stationed at street corners in orange vests, ready to blow a whistle if they see signs of immigration authorities.

Immigration enforcement can lead to dips in school attendance

Research has linked immigration raids near schools to lower academic outcomes for Latino students, who are more likely to have family ties to immigrants.

Trump's immigration crackdown also has affected school attendance in other parts of the country. In the months following his January inauguration, districts across the country reported lower attendance as immigrant families kept their children home. In California’s Central Valley, immigration raids in January and February coincided with a 22% spike in student absences compared with the previous two school years, according to a study from Stanford University economist Thomas Dee and Big Local News.

In Washington, deputy mayor for education Paul Kihn said at a news conference near the start of the school year that attendance had been about at the same level as last year. D.C. Public Schools, which educates about half of the district's students, said it could not provide data on school attendance during the federal intervention.

But Williams, who represents schools serving large immigrant communities, said attendance at some schools has taken a hit.

Around the country, educators have been on alert since Trump, a Republican, in January directed the Department of Homeland Security to rescind a memo that barred officers from entering schools and churches without a supervisor's approval. They replaced it with guidance that urges officers to use “discretion and a healthy dose of common sense” before setting foot on a school campus.

The country's largest teachers unions filed a lawsuit last week over the immigration crackdown, saying fear stirred by arrests near campuses has led some children to drop out of school.

In response, Homeland Security officials said ICE agents have not entered schools to make arrests. “ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at, or ‘raiding,’ schools. ICE is not going to schools to make arrests of children,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Emma Leheny, an education attorney who worked for the Education Department under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said fear can be pervasive even if ICE agents don't enter a school.

“As ICE encircles our local schools or leaves us with the impression that they might, the effect is an immediate chill that extends beyond the school building into the neighborhood and the community,” Leheny said.

Many children of those targeted are US citizens

Across the United States, in 2023 there were 4.6 million U.S.-born children who lived with a parent who did not have authorization to be in the country, according to the Pew Research Center. Another 1.5 million children were without legal permission themselves.

For children separated from their parents, the toll is especially steep.

The mother of three from Guatemala said her sons now sleep in her bed and wake in the middle of the night crying. This week, her husband arrived in Guatemala. She is contemplating returning to her home country because without child care, and while she fears deportation, she cannot work.

“My dream was to give them the best education, the one I didn't have,” she said.

Her eldest son wanted to be a doctor, and her middle child a police officer.

“That American dream," she said, "is gone.”

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