As the Trump administration deploys thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to cities and towns across the country, a state official met with Massachusetts education leaders via Zoom Thursday night to discuss ways to keep students safe.
The virtual seminar, hosted by the education advocacy nonprofit Citizens for Public Schools, kicked off with an introduction from Executive Director Lisa Guisbond, who explained that concerns about ICE raids in public schools have resulted in declining enrollment, which in turn threatens funding for the school districts.
“It’s clear to me that the attack on immigrants is also an attack on public education itself,” Guisbond said. “We know many families and children are actually afraid to come to school, or if their children are already in school, they may suffer anxiety or trauma, fearing that ICE might detain their parents while they’re in school.”
Director of the Children’s Justice Unit at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Liza Hirsch provided attendees with a presentation on immigration enforcement’s impact on schools, which she said she has already given to 500 superintendents across the state.
Hirsch opened her presentation with the assertion that all students have a right to an education, regardless of immigration status, according to the 1982 Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe. She noted that these protections are also upheld by the state’s Student Anti-Discrimination Act.
“The most common way we see immigrant children denied access to education is actually in the enrollment process,” Hirsch said. “School districts that may have enrollment verification policies, residency verification policies that impose barriers for immigrant families and have a disproportionate impact on immigrant families.”
Noting that ICE’s presence in Massachusetts has generally been lower than in other states, Hirsch said ICE has passed through the area on a few occasions, prompting a justified fear in some students and families.
Hirsch reminded education leaders that schools are “generally very safe places to be,” and that Massachusetts has not seen ICE raids in schools. She said that while it’s important to remind families that schools are typically a safe place for their kids, these are “unprecedented times” and there are “good and legitimate reasons” why families are afraid.
While most ICE interactions with the school system involve parents or family members of students, Hirsch explained that โ in “very small numbers” โ students have been detained outside of school hours or when they’re involved with arrests. She explained that once a student is arrested and booked, federal agencies have access to their information.
“It’s still very important to be prepared in case circumstances change even more; in case some of the things start happening in Massachusetts that we’ve seen in Minnesota and Maine,” she said. “In general, it’s important to be really cognizant of places that students and families are more vulnerable, such as in transit to school and other contexts.”
Hirsch suggested that schools prepare for ICE encounters by establishing “clear policies and protocols” for law enforcement presence on school grounds, and coordinating with local law enforcement, school staff and families to have a clear plan in the event of an ICE raid. She suggested updating students’ emergency contact information and sharing transportation or alternative caregiver plans with families to ensure student safety in the event of an ICE detention.
Setting lockdown policies in the event of an ICE raid and discussing student privacy laws with school bus contractors, Hirsch added, will help districts prepare for a potential disruption from ICE.
“It’s really hard to say where the federal administration is going to target and focus its efforts next. We hope it won’t be in Massachusetts, but that’s why we have to always be prepared,” Hirsch said. “It’s really important for families to be taking these steps, to be prepared for the worst possible scenario that we hope never happens, and really important for school districts to be prepared, because the truth is, we really don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
Greenfield resident Doug Selwyn, who serves as Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution’s Education Task Force chair, attended the remote seminar. He said in an interview Friday that while he found it to be informative, he was dismayed and frustrated by its necessity.
Selwyn said the deployment of ICE agents into American cities does nothing but stoke fear in communities and force school districts that have already been deprived of funding to allocate time and resources into protecting students from ICE.
“This invasion of our communities and schools is doing such incredible damage to all of us on so many levels โ the fact that we have kids who are going to school terrified, terrified that they’re going to be having to deal with ICE, that their parents may not be at home when they come back from school,” Selwyn said. “They’re living in fear and it’s destructive to families. It’s destructive to communities and there’s no reason for it.”

