• IDRA Newsletter • January 2025 •

When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts raids in a community, students are deeply affected. Even the threat of a raid or news of one in another part of the country can have painful lasting effects. These 10 strategies help educators serving students affected by ICE raids.

This text is from IDRA’s infographic,
“10 Strategies for How Schools Should
Support Children Impacted by ICE
Raids.” Get it here.

1. Provide trauma-informed care

Provide trauma-informed care and services for students who experience or may experience trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ensure educators and staff are appropriately trained to recognize and respond to students’ needs.

2. Provide counseling support

Have counselors, social workers and other professionals available to assist students, families, educators and staff. These professionals can respond directly to individual needs and can help to create a safe and positive school climate for everyone in a campus community.

3. Provide waiting space

Create a safe space, like a school gym, where students and families can wait if a parent is detained.

4. Identify bilingual liaison

Identify a bilingual parent liaison or family liaison to support students and families.

5. Connect with community

Connect with local community-based organizations that have expertise and resources. Distribute and post IDRA’s alert on immigrant student rights “Welcoming Immigrant Students in School” (see Page 4).

6. Obstruct the school-to-deportation pipeline

Obstruct – do not facilitate – the school-to-deportation pipeline. Ensure police officers are not present on campuses unnecessarily as this can re-traumatize students and discourage families from being on campus. Do not involve law enforcement needlessly or enforce criminal penalties against students that might trigger ICE intervention. Review codes of conduct to ensure they do not contain penalties or discipline procedures related to immigration status or English proficiency.

7. Affirm safe spaces

Affirmatively issue and post a statement that makes it clear that the district is a safe space for families. Many school districts have reaffirmed their policies to protect students’ rights in light of uncertainty regarding federal immigration enforcement activities in their schools. Some districts have issued statements affirming the districts’ mission to ensure all students have a safe and positive learning environment and outlining guidance to school personnel on how to, for example, respond to requests from ICE agents for data or access to their campus.

8. Help students who become homeless

Have the district’s “McKinney-Vento” liaison ensure that any students who become homeless as a result of a raid are given supports and legal protections afforded by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

9. Provide public resources

Make general public resources available to families. (For example, www.immigrationlawhelp.org has information about non-profit legal service organizations by state.)

10. Equip school staff

Equip school staff with training, resources and supports. School leaders have an important role in actively affirming the welcoming environment they intend to maintain. All staff should understand the district’s non-discrimination policies, procedures for collecting student information, commitment to the communities they serve, and measures for communicating with students’ families.

Educators and other adults in the school need to watch for students who are being teased or bullied by other students related to their real – or perceived – citizenship or immigration status or that of their family.

Schools should reassure families about the following…

  • The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits schools from providing any outside agency (including ICE) with any information from a child’s school file that would expose the student’s undocumented status.
  • While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on January 21, 2025, removed long-standing restrictions on immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations,” including schools, school personnel still have no legal obligation to enforce immigration law.
  • Schools should not ask for citizenship or immigration status when enrolling students or interacting with families.
  • All students, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to a free public education under the U.S. Constitution precedent.

See samples in IDRA’s resource: School Districts Pass Resolutions on Responding to ICE here.


[© 2025, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the January edition of the IDRA Newsletter. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]

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