Nation's principals say Trump immigration agenda spreads fear in schools, echoing LA leaders

Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, Los Angeles educators have said the increase in immigration enforcement actions contributed to more somber graduation ceremonies, lower attendance and fewer students enrolled in school this year.

Now, a new report from UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access finds similar scenarios are playing out on campuses across the country.

“There can sometimes be a sense that, well, we're facing a set of conditions that are unique to Los Angeles,” said UCLA education professor and report co-author John Rogers. “But every state in the nation, almost every community in the nation has high schools where young people are experiencing fear and concern for themselves and for their family members.”

UCLA researchers based the report on a nationally representative online survey of 606 high school principals and follow-up interviews with about four dozen administrators who said students from immigration families experienced:

• Heightened concern: 70% said students from immigrant families were concerned about the well-being of themselves and their families because of policies and political rhetoric related to immigrants. 
• More absences: 64% said students from immigrant families missed school. 
• Loss of family members: 58% said immigrant parents and guardians left during the school year, sometimes without their children. 
• Bullying and harassment: 36% said students from immigrant families have been bullied or harassed at their school, in part because of a “political climate that has normalized attacks on immigrant communities.

LAist has reached out to the Trump administration for comment, but has not yet heard back.

Students’ right to an education

The Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that undocumented immigrants have a constitutional right to attend public schools — there are an estimated 39,000 such students enrolled in Los Angeles County.

The number of students with at least one immigrant family member is much greater. For example, almost half of California children have at least one immigrant parent, according to a Public Policy Institute of California analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

Maria Nichols leads the union that represents Los Angeles Unified School District principals and said that there’s widespread uncertainty among students, families and educators. She is also the daughter of an immigrant from South America who was undocumented for part of her childhood.

“Are we experiencing a crisis now with immigration? Absolutely,” Nichols said. “It's extremely traumatic. It's extremely triggering for people that, you know, lived the immigrant existence. And many of us in education in Los Angeles have lived that.”

In January, the Trump administration reversed a policy that made schools and other "sensitive" locations off limits to immigration enforcement actions. In early June, widespread immigration raids started across Southern California. Most arrested in L.A. and nationwide have no criminal record.

“I think a purpose of the federal immigration enforcement policies is to create a level of stress and uncertainty and fear,” Rogers said. “And precisely those dynamics make it hard to sustain student enrollment and student attendance at high levels.”

Rogers said the current climate can disrupt learning for students who do make it to school.

“The extent to which young people are concerned about their wellbeing and the wellbeing of their families while they're at the school means there's less attention, less focus, less learning going on,” Rogers said.