With Chicago caught in ICE storm, school attendance takes a hit

Chicago schools are seeing a drop in attendance among English language learners amid the highly publicized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the city.  

One high school in Chicago has reported a 4 point drop in attendance since ICE operations began, according to data obtained by Chalkbeat, as immigrant families stay home due to fears of deportations and encounters with police.  

Another study from Stanford University showed a 22 percent jump in absences from five California school districts during January and February, compared to the same months in the previous years, when ICE operations were happening around the areas. 

Advocacy groups have moved on from "Know Your Rights" campaigns and are urging schools to offer remote learning and other support to ensure students missing class don't fall behind.  

The Chalkbeat data showed the first month of school, before the ICE enforcement began in earnest, attendance was at the same level as the previous year. But once the operations in Chicago kicked into high gear, attendance went down by 1.25 percentage points, more than double the drop between the first two months for the past two years, according to Chalkbeat.  

Officials for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), which serves approximately 324,000 students, said the rate of attendance among English language learners the first nine weeks dropped 1.3 percentage points compared to the same time last year.  

“It's understandable that there is that fear among parents and among children and students, and that families want to keep their children safe, and so, if that means that they have to stay home and off the streets, that's what they're going to do. I think now is the time for schools to really put in policies that affirm that they are safe places for all children,” said Adaku Onyeka Crawford, director of the Opportunity to Learn program at Advancement Project. 

CPS has allowed excused absences “for circumstances that cause reasonable concern for a student’s mental, emotional, or physical well-being."

The district also said it has teams reaching out directly to families in these situations to ensure they are receiving academic and social-emotional support. Technology such as Google Classroom has also been deployed to help students stay connected when they miss school. 

Some, such as the Chicago Teachers Union, have advocated for more virtual learning options to be opened to immigrant families, although that comes with its own set of challenges. 

For one, the virtual academy CPS uses is for students with certain medical issues and part-time accelerated courses. Expansion could be a discussion in the future but would not be helpful for other students right now, the district argues.  

Others say unless the community is asking for remote options, pushing immigrant children into virtual learning could ostracize them further.  

“There's a lot of learning loss that happened over COVID when schools were virtual and I think it actually makes English language learners and undocumented students almost like second class citizens and second class students to just rely on that option,” Crawford said.  

“So I wouldn't recommend that, unless that is what the community is asking for and the school can do that in a way that gives the same educational opportunities to people who are being targeted by this administration,” she added. 

Senate Democrats are urging Education Secretary Linda McMahon to push ICE agents to adopt a policy that limits its activity to be at least 1,000 feet away from school properties. 

That would be a dramatic shift after the Trump administration eliminated the rule that kept ICE out of school buildings, although since the change, no confirmed incidents have been reported of ICE going into classrooms.  

In the Democrats' letter, they point to ICE-involved instances that have happened in front of school such as two women getting dragged out of their car and arrested in front of a Chicago school building with students around. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the women “were driving recklessly, including weaving between lanes and putting other motorists at risk. Following the driver abruptly stopping in the middle of traffic near a school, law enforcement approached the vehicle. The occupants refused to exit the vehicle and follow law enforcement commands.” 

President Trump's ICE operations in cities have faced sharp pushback from state and local officials.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) had asked last week for ICE operations to be halted at least for Halloween so families could trick-or-treat in peace, a request that was rejected by DHS.

The Chicago Tribune reported on Monday that 911 calls have dropped since ICE operations began in the city, with the biggest decline in an area with the largest Mexican American population at more than 21 percent.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement the department is "NOT targeting schools."

“Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, our brave law enforcement officers are delivering on President Trump's and the American people's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America safe. Removing dangerous criminals from our streets makes it safer for everyone — including business owners and their customers," McLaughlin said.

“Those who are not here illegally and are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear. Elected officials choosing to fearmonger by distorting reality are doing a great disservice to our country and are responsible for the nearly 1,000% increase in assaults on ICE officers," she added.

Advocacy groups were previously focusing on “Know Your Rights” campaigns for schools and families and are still pushing for officials to know what to do if ICE tries to enter school buildings. But some groups have switched their work to what plans parents should make if someone in the family is deported and how to support the children if something happens to them. 

“What we're doing as an organization is talking to families about family emergency planning, because we know that it's happening. We're helping families with the aftermath of deportation, or as their family members are getting detained,” said Lorena Tule-Romain, co-founder and COO of ImmSchools. 

“We are responding to the moment by ensuring that families can prepare, whether that's child care, whether that is ensuring that there's multiple emergency contacts that can pick up the children if a parent is detained or while they are detained,” she added.