Schools are trying to get ahead of Trump and protect undocumented students

Show Caption

As Donald Trump’s second term approaches, colleges and K-12 schools are taking steps to shield undocumented students from possible changes to immigration policy that could impact their education. 

Officials from universities across the country convened virtually last week with immigration advocates to discuss how to respond to the incoming administration’s stance regarding the approximately 400,000 undocumented students enrolled in higher education. 

Trump pledged on the campaign trail he'd carry out mass deportations in a second term. He then suggested in December he supported deporting mixed-status families – in which family members have differing legal statuses in the U.S. – even if some are citizens.

“The only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together,” Trump said in a television interview, “and you have to send them all back.” 

That rhetoric has created questions about possible guardrails for protecting student data and applying for college financial aid. It has also sparked a larger debate about where immigration enforcement should and shouldn't occur. The angst comes after a challenging year for students from mixed-status families, who experienced unique obstacles trying to get help paying for college amid a crisis in the federal financial aid system. 

Miriam Feldblum, the executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, stressed in the virtual meeting Wednesday with dozens of college officials that schools are more confident about what to expect from the next administration than they were in 2017 when Trump first took office.

“Higher education is in a different space now,” she said. “We're in a better situation to respond effectively and nimbly.”

A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not respond to Paste BN's request for comment.

Protocols for enforcement

A primary worry for colleges is that Trump may be poised to rescind a longstanding policy that prevents federal agents from conducting immigration enforcement activities in “sensitive locations,” such as churches and schools. 

That guidance has been in place since a 2011 memorandum issued by John Morton, the Obama administration's director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Even though the policy remained in effect during Trump’s first term, there was greater law enforcement presence outside school campuses during that time, recalled Dan Berger, an immigration scholar at Cornell Law School. 

“What we did see during the previous Trump administration was ICE agents being outside those areas, waiting for parents after they dropped their kids off at school,” he said last week. “The sensitive locations memo was mostly followed, but not completely.” 

Berger and other advocates urged colleges to review the relevant federal laws and clarify their policies in the coming weeks. If schools don’t want to go any further to obey immigration officials than the law requires of them, he said they should designate one person – an employee from the public safety department or general counsel’s office, for instance – as the campus point person for interacting with law enforcement. 

“That office should be mobilized to come down, take a look at the documents, see if that person really does have the right kind of badge,” he said, “and then facilitate the conversation.” 

Protect student data

Another concern that has arisen from mixed-status families in recent weeks involves federal financial aid – in particular, information families must enter into an online application. 

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is used by millions of students each year to get help paying for college. Though the data that students and parents provide on the form is technically confidential and protected against usage apart from financial aid, some families are worried the Trump administration will seek it out for other purposes, including immigration enforcement. 

A high-ranking official in Biden’s Education Department met with college staffers and advocates Monday to discuss how to support students from mixed-status families completing the form. 

They also discussed the relevant rules that help keep students’ information protected. The main federal law safeguarding student data is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. Under that statute, schools are prohibited from disclosing personally identifiable information on school records under most circumstances. 

Ignacia Rodriguez, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, said that because federal agencies could shift how they interpret grey areas in the laws, state and local regulations will matter more in the coming weeks and months. She recommended that officials in states with pro-immigration attorneys general push them to issue guidance. 

“An incoming administration may not necessarily follow these procedures that are in place,” she told college officials last week. “So there are no guarantees.”

School districts vow not to assist with immigration enforcement

After Trump was elected in 2016, dozens of school districts across the country adopted “safe zone” resolutions, declaring their intent to protect students from federal immigration enforcement, according to the National Education Association.

In anticipation of his return to the White House, school districts have begun to do so again. 

The governing board of an elementary school district in Phoenix adopted a policy in December stating the district would not permit immigration enforcement activities on school property “without a valid warrant or legal order” and would not ask about or document the immigration status of students or parents. The policy also directed the district to train staff on FERPA and protocols for responding to law enforcement requests. 

Read more about how school districts are responding to Trump's return

Anna Lynn Abeytia, president of the Cartwright Elementary School District’s board, had Trump’s promises of mass deportations in mind when she and her fellow board members adopted the policy. But she said it was also developed in response to a ballot proposition passed by Arizona voters in November that, in part, authorized state and local law enforcement to arrest and detain migrants who cross the Arizona-Mexico border without authorization. Enforcement of that aspect of the measure, however, is on hold as federal courts decide whether to allow a similar Texas law to take effect.

Abeytia said she worried about attendance and enrollment dropping in the district in response to threats of heightened immigration enforcement activity.

“I think families are extremely worried," she said.

In November, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education renewed its 2016 “safe zone” resolution, which prohibited district personnel “from voluntarily cooperating in any immigration enforcement action.” The 2024 version directed the district’s superintendent to create an implementation plan for that policy. It also established plans to train staff about responding to requests from immigration personnel for access or information. 

Los Angeles Unified has since been preparing to train staff and planning “Know Your Rights” seminars for families, according to Britt Vaughan, a district spokesperson. 

Weeks after the November election, California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to school leaders, telling them that the state’s schools are prohibited from requesting Social Security numbers or inquiring about students’ or parents’ immigration status. The state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, issued guidance to K-12 schools related to protecting immigrant students, too.

Since February 2017, Los Angeles Unified has used a reference guide for schools and district staff with detailed instructions for responding to requests from ICE agents or other federal immigration officials, Vaughan said.

But during the first Trump administration, there were no direct visits from immigration officials at Los Angeles Unified school sites, he said.

“It was more common that rumors of immigration officials visiting homes within the community spread and frightened families, causing them to stay away from public places, including sending their students to school,” Vaughan said.

Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for Paste BN. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.

Madeleine Parrish is a K-12 education reporter at the Arizona Republic. You can reach her by email at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com.