Is ICE Targeting Schools? What We Know

President Donald Trump granted the nation's top immigration enforcement agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the authority to apprehend migrants suspected of being in the country illegally in or near schools.

School boards around the country have taken precautions to reassure students, parents and families.

John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE field office director in Colorado, spoke to Newsweek and said that the policy change does not specifically aim to increase operations in schools, but rather to remove restrictions on ICE's ability to operate in neighborhoods around sensitive locations.

"They didn't get rid of it so they could go into schools and churches. They got rid of it so they could actually go into just a regular neighborhood," he said.

Newsweek has contacted ICE for further comment via email.

Why It Matters

Since the start of Trump's second term, hundreds of suspected illegal migrants have been arrested. Under the current administration, ICE has gained expanded powers in enforcement, including the right to conduct raids in places of worship, schools, and hospitals.

Critics say immigration raids sow fear in vulnerable communities and that they violate protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Issues including warrantless arrests, data collection without consent and detentions without probable cause could be deemed unconstitutional and may prompt potential legal battles over balancing immigration enforcement with individual rights.

Immigration and mass deportations were a key component of President Trump's successful 2024 campaign. Americans largely support the president's mass deportation plans, but disagree about how policies should be carried out. A poll by The New York Times and Ipsos from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records."

What To Know

Fabbricatore said that the policy had created "exclusions" around sensitive locations, making entire neighborhoods off-limits for ICE agents. According to Fabbricatore, the new approach will allow for greater flexibility in operations, ensuring that ICE can now address threats without being restricted by geographic proximity to sensitive locations.

ICE told Newsweek on January 25 that no immigration enforcement operation has been conducted at schools or bus stops.

A school district in Connecticut is defying Trump's order to allow ICE agents to go to sensitive locations.

Bridgeport Public Schools announced guidelines designed to protect students in the event of an attempted raid by ICE agents at any of its schools.

Interim school superintendent Dr. Royce Avery reaffirmed that the school district's immigration enforcement guidelines remain in place. Avery said that ICE agents and other government officials are prohibited from entering school buildings, boarding buses or attending school events without prior written approval from the superintendent.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, Denver Public Schools (DPS) has issued a memo to staff to not allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entry to their buildings if they don't have an appointment of business with the school.

Aurora Public Schools advised its staff through a memo to "politely inform federal agents the district has a process regarding requests to talk with students."

The district also stated: "There's no indication there will be immigration action in APS schools."

The Oklahoma State Board of Education approved a proposal that mandates parents to disclose their immigration status or provide proof of citizenship when enrolling their children in public schools.

A parent from the South Whidbey School District in Washington was taken into custody during an immigration raid this week.

Dr. Jo Moccia, the district's superintendent, confirmed that the detained individual is part of the school community. In a statement, Dr. Moccia expressed concern for the family, emphasizing that the parent "has become a victim of the immigration raids."

It comes as a conservative student group at Arizona State University is organizing an event to promote reporting classmates to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid President Donald Trump's crackdown.

The group, College Republicans United, said on social media the event is scheduled for later today, January 31.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a memo on Trump's first week in office overturning the Biden administration's policy that restricted ICE agents from conducting operations near or within schools, churches and other "sensitive locations."

A DHS spokesperson explained the policy change, and said that "criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest."

The ICE policy, which required agents to get prior approval before making arrests at sensitive locations, was implemented in 2011 through a memo by then Director John Morton.

This policy remained intact throughout the first Trump administration and continued under Biden's leadership. Under the policy, ICE agents were allowed to enter sensitive places like schools, churches and hospitals only in certain situations.

These included addressing threats to national security or terrorism, apprehending dangerous criminals, preventing imminent death or injury, or protecting evidence from being destroyed in criminal investigations.

Agents had to get approval from their superiors before making arrests in these locations. On X, formerly Twitter, ICE announced that it made 1,016 arrests and lodged 814 detainers on Thursday.

What People Are Saying

John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE field office director in Colorado, told Newsweek: "You have to look at how that policy is written and why they needed to get rid of it. That policy actually says that you cannot do any operations in or near those sensitive locations, and the sensitive location memo lists sensitive locations as parks, schools, rec centers, churches, medical facilities and day-care centers.

"So it actually excluded whole neighborhoods from ICE being able to go into a neighborhood. Many of the neighborhoods here in the United States are built around a school, built around having churches and parks in those communities. So the unofficial memo that had come out with that sensitive location memo is that you could not do an operation within linear sight of any of those sensitive locations."

"So it excluded whole areas from ICE being able to go into. So that's why that policy needed to go away."

Andrew Fels, an attorney at Al Otro Lado' told Newsweek: "The former agent is very much factually mistaken. The recent DHS memo authorized immigration enforcement actions in any previously protected location, not just in the areas surrounding those locations."

"The original 2021 Guidelines for Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas memorandum is here. As the title suggests, the memo forbids immigration enforcement at certain sensitive locations, like churches, schools, and hospitals. It also prohibits enforcement close to the protected areas that would 'restrain people from accessing the protected area to receive essential services or engage in essential activities.'

"Trump's DHS totally repealed the 2021 memorandum. There is no mention of 'linear sight' or 'neighborhoods' in either memo.

"There's a more complicated legal issue here regarding whether ICE can properly act under this memo because it has yet to adopt policies consistent with the memo. At the moment, its policy still implements the 2021 memo. And ICE can't take actions contrary to its own policy. But again, that's a very thorny legal issue filled with gray areas, and no one is paying attention to it yet."

A spokesperson for ICE told Newsweek on January 25: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not conducted any operations at schools or bus stops. Our enforcement efforts remain focused on public safety threats and those who have a final order of removal."

What Happens Next

As ICE begins to implement the new policies, communities across the country will be watching closely to see how the shift impacts local schools and neighborhoods—especially those that have long served as safe spaces for immigrant families.

As tensions rise, the next steps for both ICE and immigrant communities could shape the landscape of U.S. immigration enforcement for years to come.