By: Micaela McConnell and Steven Hubbard| americanimmigrationcouncil.org

As students across the United States are returning to the classroom this fall, the lasting and deeply damaging effects of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda loom over schools. As the administration aggressively pursues its immigration enforcement agenda, it is creating a crisis in the nation’s education system—one that’s leaving thousands of children behind academically and emotionally.

Short-Term Impact: Absenteeism and Fear in the Classroom

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has significantly increased enforcement through workplace raids, neighborhood sweeps, and community targeting, including near schools and places of worship. Policies that once protected these “sensitive locations” were revoked in January 2025. As a result, the second half of the 2024-2025 school year saw a chilling effect where families were pulling their children out of school, terrified that a parent, family member, or child could be detained or deported as some students and families have been.

When students are too afraid to go to school or are too distracted by the threat of family separation to focus, their education suffers. And these aren’t isolated cases. As of 2023, approximately 5 million children in the U.S. live with at least one undocumented family member. The scale of the impact is national.

Long-Term Consequences: A Threat to the Right to Education

Another insidious threat lies in how Trump-era policies and rhetoric have emboldened some states to go further and challenge the very right of immigrant children to receive an education. This year, lawmakers in states like Oklahoma and Tennessee proposed legislation that would require school districts to report undocumented students, charge them to attend school, or deny enrollment to children without legal immigration status. Neither of these efforts passed, yet other threats persist.

These efforts are a clear attack on the landmark 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, which ruled that all children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to a free public education. If these state efforts were to succeed, hundreds of thousands of children (there were about 1 million undocumented children aged 5-18 in 2023) could be barred from education, creating devastating cycles of poverty, social exclusion, and growing inequality.

Community Resistance and Local Advocacy

In the face of these threats, many states, local school districts, community organizations, and grassroots leaders continue to show up for their students and their families. Across the country, states like Illinois have passed legislation that preserves access to education, regardless of immigration status. School districts like Los Angeles have introduced policies to protect immigrant families. Teachers can also undergo training on how to support undocumented students and respond if enforcement actions occur.

The dedication of local leadership and grassroots mobilization sends a clear message: schools should be safe spaces for learning, not sites of fear and exclusion.

The Role of AI in Surveillance and Deportation

Adding another layer of complexity is the increasing use of artificial intelligence in immigration enforcement. Under contracts with tech companies, ICE has gained access to powerful AI tools that aggregate data from sources such as IRS records, Social Security files, passports, and license-plate readers. These systems often operate without transparency or oversight and can disproportionately impact immigrant communities.

There are growing concerns that AI-driven surveillance could be used to track migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who engage with public services, including school enrollment. AI is already being used to track and revoke the visas of international students across the United States.

Though the full impact of the technology is still being assessed, its usage and reach are expanding rapidly. Without safeguards, these tools risk deepening mistrust in public institutions and further alienating vulnerable families.

Moving Forward: Protecting Every Child’s Right to Learn

Trauma, disrupted schooling, and the erosion of trust in institutions have long-term consequences for both individuals and the broader society. But hope remains in the resilient and compassionate responses from communities across the country, dedicated to keeping schools as safe spaces where everyone can learn.

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