How teachers are preparing themselves and their students for immigration sweeps

In New York and other cities across the nation, educators are grappling with fear among students and parents that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will show up at schools – or their homes – as the Trump administration vows to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

A 6-year-old first grader in New York City has been asking to visit the school nurse almost every day for the last month, hoping to be sent home. Her teacher eventually figured out why. “She is afraid if she waits to the end of the day, she’s not going to be able to see her mother – that something will happen and her mother will not be able to pick her up” if she or family members are caught up in an immigration enforcement operation, Katie Kurjakovic, an English language learners specialist with the United Federation of Teachers, recalled a colleague telling her. In New York and other cities across the nation, educators are grappling with fear among students and parents that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will show up at schools – or their homes – as the Trump administration vows to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. “All the teacher can do is to try to make this little girl feel as safe as possible,” Kurjakovic told CNN. “She invites the girl to sit with her during as much of the day as possible … It’s very upsetting, but it’s what teachers are finding themselves having to do in the classroom – make kids feel safe.” Anxiety around America’s classrooms has only increased since the administration last month reversed a longstanding policy that directed immigration agents to avoid sensitive locations such as schools, churches and hospitals – leaving educators scrambling for guidance on what to do if agents appear and how to reassure worried students and parents. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman said in a statement last month. “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”