ICE raids trigger school absenteeism and traumatize children: ‘They have been forced to leave their childhood behind’

The first thing they did was stop going to class. Fear of being arrested if they left home had spread.

“ICE took the upstairs neighbor of one of my students and the downstairs neighbor, too. After that, they came for one day and never again,” says a teacher at a high school in Washington, D.C.

This happened back in September. Then, in October, the father of the three-year-old child of another one of her students — who had decided to leave school to work — was deported. And, just two weeks ago, the uncle (and sole guardian) of a third student was also deported. Several teachers have started raising funds and setting up a food drive to prevent him from dropping out of school.

But Donald Trump’s immigration offensive hasn’t only caused thousands of undocumented students — or U.S.-born children of immigrant parents — to miss school for fear of being arrested. Many others continue to attend class fearfully, struggling to concentrate and keep up. They dread the possibility of encountering police at the school gates, or seeing their friends, neighbors, or family being detained. Parents, teachers and psychologists warn about the long-term consequences of a trauma that’s only just beginning to be studied. Some children have had to take on new responsibilities: dropping their younger siblings off at school, doing the grocery shopping, or working to earn money.

“At the beginning of the year, several students came up and asked me if they were going to be deported, showing me videos on their phones. They know that, if they go out on the street, it could happen. They’re very afraid,” Vincent Kirk explains to EL PAÍS. He teaches English and American literature to teenagers at a high school in Los Angeles. “It’s terrible to see them worried about that, when they should be worried about whether or not they can go out with the boy or girl they like, about the soccer game on the weekend… they’ve been forced to leave their childhood behind. And now, they fear for their lives.”

Kirk says that a third of his students stopped attending school when the Trump-ordered raids began in Los Angeles at the beginning of the summer. In response, the mobilizations by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) — the union to which Kirk belongs — managed to reduce absenteeism. But in many other cities, such as New Orleans, the raids are just beginning and the school communities are now trying to organize.

The raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents against migrants are disrupting schools and colleges across the country. This is despite the federal government’s promise not to conduct raids or arrests in or around educational institutions. “We’re seeing ICE showing up at schools looking for students; we’ve seen them go to elementary schools looking for students without a warrant,” says Kirk. Meanwhile, teachers are trying to continue pretending that everything is normal, while also taking urgent measures, such as referring students to mental health professionals, or preparing and distributing manuals that explain to parents what they should do as soon as possible in case they are detained or deported.

On January 20, 2025 — his first day in office — Trump ended a policy that prohibited ICE raids on churches, hospitals and schools, among other places where agents previously had restricted access. However, the Department of Homeland Security maintains that ICE does not conduct arrests in or near schools.

“The media is sadly attempting to create a climate of fear and smear law enforcement. ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at, or ‘raiding,’ schools. ICE is not going to schools to make arrests of children,” said department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.

However, in early-November, a video went viral showing immigration agents entering a Chicago elementary school and arresting a teacher in a classroom, in front of the children. This prompted condemnation from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Democratic members of Congress. Police later stated that the teacher was a Colombian immigrant and that she had been arrested for a traffic violation. A few days later, she was released in Indiana.

“These are fears that affect all children — not just the children of immigrants — and cause potential long-term effects,” says Cynthia Langtiw, a clinical psychologist and professor specializing in children, migrants and trauma. She works with organizations that support refugees, asylum-seekers and detainees. “In the Chicago area, there’s a constant sense of fear. At the end of my block, where my own daughter walks to school, one of our neighbors was arrested at 7:30 in the morning. Right in front of my daughter, in front of the children.” Shortly before that, her 17-year-old son sent her a photo showing that he wasn’t allowed to leave school because there was a raid taking place outside.

A Stanford University study was the first to find that, in California school districts, the increase in raids this year has coincided with significant spikes in student absences, especially among younger children. “It’s very important that people understand the social and economic impact of these policies. Missing school harms children, at a time when attendance [is] already low after the pandemic. But there are many other reasons why this is harmful, and the most important is the psychological trauma,” warns Thomas Dee, the author of the research, in an interview with EL PAÍS.

Another study from the University of Rochester (New York) has revealed that, when arrests of migrants increase, the test scores of Latino students drop, even if the raids don’t take place in the area where the school is located. Likewise, previous research has shown that children from migrant families are four times more likely to have suicidal thoughts or make attempts at taking their own lives. Those who have migrated are also more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.

“I’m scared when my parents leave the house”

“I’m scared for my parents to walk out of their house, because I might not be able to say goodbye to them if they go to work. I might not ever be able to say ‘bye’ or see them again. I really do want something to change, because I do not want to live like this. As a 16-year-old, I shouldn’t be scared. I should be focusing on school and I can’t even focus on school.” With these words, Manny Chavez — a high school student from Hillsboro, Oregon — made headlines across the country, after a video of him speaking at a city council meeting went viral.

“We are fighting for our rights and we are getting treated like animals. People judge us by the color of our skin and the way that we talk. And we have a president that acts like a child and doesn’t side with us because of the way he thinks about us,” the teenager said through tears. “It’s like a fever dream,” he added, “except we all know that it’s real.”

Shortly before making his comments, ICE had detained family members of his friends and members of his football team. Teenagers were also held at gunpoint by agents in a coffee shop in his town. In October alone, ICE arrested more than 300 people in Oregon, most of them in the Portland area, home to Hillsboro, where Latinos make up a quarter of the population.

Consequently, psychologists and other mental health professionals are warning of a rise in children experiencing sleep and eating problems, as well as difficulties playing, socializing and going outside. But the main side effect of this situation, according to psychologist Cynthia Langtiw, is what’s known as “betrayal trauma.” This is trauma that’s inflicted by someone the victim trusted.

“The layers of this trauma are even more insidious, because the person who is supposed to protect you is the one hurting you, making it even harder to recover. This is what many children are experiencing now when they see their neighbors arrested, even though they’ve never committed a crime,” she explains. “And when the government that’s supposed to care for you, feed you, support you and help you is the one hurting you, it’s betrayal trauma at a societal level. That’s why we need to pay attention to the long-term effects.”

Experts recommend that parents continue talking to their children about the issues that concern them, as well as seeking professional help if they need psychological support. They also urge schools to try to ensure that children’s basic needs are met, such as food and healthcare. “If students are missing class, we need to find ways for them to continue learning, so that, when they return, they can catch up,” adds Hedy N. Chang, founder and executive director of Attendance Works, an organization leading a campaign to have school absenteeism treated as a public health issue.

Some schools have instructed their staff to lock all doors and not allow immigration officers to enter without a warrant. “In January, we had a faculty meeting where we were told that no one could be allowed in, because it’s the only protection we can give the children,” a teacher from a Virginia school recalls. “We’ve also asked families to authorize as many adults as possible so that, in case of an emergency — if something happens to a parent — another adult can take the child home.”

According to experts, the measures being taken by schools and colleges to protect students can also be a tool in the fight against trauma. In San Diego, a group of teachers decided to patrol the streets before dawn, in order to watch for ICE agents in the area. This was after several parents of students were arrested. And, in Los Angeles, an inspector created “security perimeters” at school graduations, protected by district police, to prevent potential raids from ruining the celebrations.

Many, however, prefer not to take any risks. Several teachers interviewed by this newspaper reported that some of their students’ families have decided to return to their countries of origin. “I suspect that when the data for this school year comes in — which is usually collected in the fall — we’re going to see that many of the hardest-hit districts have far fewer students enrolled,” Professor Dee notes. “The families will have left, rather than face the risk of being separated.”

Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani.

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