After the Trump administration announced on Tuesday that officers enforcing federal immigration laws could now make arrests at sensitive locations, Aurora area schools have begun to make plans in case Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection try to make arrests at their facilities.
ICE guidance restricting officers from entering sensitive locations like schools and churches dated back to 2011. Similar Customs and Border Protection guidance was made in 2013.
But now, as that guidance ends, local school districts are determining how they will respond to potential ICE encounters.
On Wednesday, the Illinois State Board of Education issued “non-regulatory guidance” for schools statewide in the event that federal agencies attempt to enforce federal immigration laws on school property.
“As leaders of public schools, we have both a legal and moral obligation to protect our students’ rights within our buildings,” State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said in a press release Thursday. “ISBE firmly believes that schools should be a safe haven for all students, where students should be able to learn without fear. We can and should do everything within our power to protect our students and their right to learn while in our care.”
The state guidance outlined the types of documents federal immigration officers may have and how schools should respond, and offered next steps they can take. These include, for example, establishing points of contact in schools for ICE personnel to be directed to and individuals who can review records requests or subpoenas, ensuring that school staff and faculty receive training on related school policies, encouraging parents to have their children’s emergency contacts up-to-date and having plans in place if a student’s parent is detained or deported.
East Aurora School District 131 sent out a letter to parents Thursday evening with instructions on updating their emergency contact information on file with the district.
“It is also recommended that you have an emergency plan that you share with your family,” the letter from East Aurora School District Superintendent Jennifer Norrell read.
A spokesperson for West Aurora School District 129 said its school administrators “are well-informed about the procedures for responding to any government agency, including safeguarding student and guardian privacy in compliance with current laws.”
Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley said the district is offering resources from the American Immigration Council, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to the school community.
And Aurora University said it has developed a list of resources for immigrant students, including legal resources.
Other schools in the Chicago area are also preparing for encounters with federal immigration agencies.
The University of Illinois Chicago, for example, said it sent a message to staff recently instructing them not to accept documents presented by federal immigration officers and to instead direct them to UIC police. Chicago Public Schools said it will not share private student-level information with ICE unless there is a court order or parent or guardian consent.
On Friday, ICE showed up to Hamline Elementary School in the New City neighborhood in Chicago, Principal Natasha Ortega said at a news conference. School officials said CPS prevented ICE officers from entering the school. This appears to be the first immigrant action at a Chicago school since Trump took office.
On Thursday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued updated guidance to state, county and local law enforcement when it comes to enforcing federal immigration law.
“State law does not grant local law enforcement the authority to enforce federal civil immigration laws,” Raoul said in a press release Thursday. “This includes participating, supporting or assisting in any capacity with federal immigration enforcement operations unless federal agents have a criminal warrant or federal law specifically requires it.”
Of its nearly 180,000 residents, the city of Aurora is more than 40% Hispanic, according to the most recent census data, compared to 19% in Illinois and just under 30% in Chicago. And Aurora’s population was just over 25% foreign-born from 2019-2023, compared to roughly 14% in Illinois and just over 20% in Chicago.
But, while school officials in the area said much remains uncertain, they said they are preparing as best as they can.
“While the implications of this recent announcement regarding ICE access to schools and churches are not yet fully clear, we are proactively preparing for any potential impacts,” Talley of School District 204 said in a statement on Thursday.
And, despite uncertainty as to if and when encounters with ICE may occur, East Aurora School District – whose school community is nearly 90% Hispanic, according to data from the district – reminded local families about their right to public education.
“(A)ll children in the United States are entitled to equal access to a basic public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their actual or perceived immigration status, or the status of their parents/guardians – a standard upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plyler v. Doe, even in instances when a student may be undocumented,” Norrell said in Thursday’s letter to district families. “We will continue to support our EASD 131 students and do everything in our power to help them be successful so they can reach their full potential and that includes giving them a safe space and resources for their families.”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
