Schools poised to be major front line in Trump immigration crackdown
Oklahoma is moving to require proof of citizenship for the guardians of public school students, while California schools are distributing "know your rights" cards to immigrant families as K-12 campuses become a crucial front line in President Trump's immigration crackdown.
Since the Department of Homeland Security rescinded an order that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot go into schools, families have been pulling their students out of class and administrators have created action plans on how to handle ICE agents.
But while blue states are moving to shield their students, some red ones are embracing Trump's policies, with the sharply splitting policies likely to create precarious environments for students and educators.
“It's concerning because it could increase educational disparities between red, blue [and] purple states based on their state-level policies related to these things,” said Victoria Francis, deputy director of state and local initiatives at the American Immigration Council.
“So, students in different states might not have access to the same level of education because some students feel safe in their learning environment, other students don't and choose not to attend school,” she added.
So far, no school districts have reported ICE agents demanding entry, despite confusion at a Chicago public school last month that mistook Secret Service agents who showed up at an elementary school for ICE and reacted with alarm.
States and schools have sent © The Hill