Across the United States, the start of the 2025-2026 school year has been anything but routine. From the bustling streets of New York City to the sun-soaked avenues of Los Angeles, a wave of immigration enforcement activity has swept through communities, leaving parents, educators, and local officials scrambling to respond. The latest surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids—carried out near schools, workplaces, and public spaces—has reignited fierce debate about the balance between national security and the well-being of immigrant families.
According to Reuters, the tension reached a boiling point in New York on September 4, 2025, when ICE agents conducted coordinated raids in the upstate towns of Cato and Fulton. Governor Kathy Hochul minced no words in her condemnation. "I am outraged by this morning's ICE raids in Cato and Fulton, where more than 40 adults were seized—including parents of at least a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house," Hochul said in a statement from her office. She stressed that such actions do not make New York safer, adding, "What they did was shatter hard-working families who are simply trying to build a life here."
The impact of these raids was immediate and deeply felt. Rural & Migrant Ministry, a migrant advocacy group, reported that over 70 workers were arrested at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners factory in Cato, marking one of the largest workplace raids in New York since President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants began. The New York Times confirmed that the number of detained workers exceeded 70, citing eyewitness accounts. Mark Schmidt, the principal owner of the factory, pushed back, stating, "All my workers had legal documentation to work in the United States and that the operation was 'overkill.'"
ICE, for its part, defended the operation, describing it as part of "court-authorized enforcement actions." A spokesperson told Spectrum News 1, "While we cannot comment further about this specific ongoing criminal investigation at this time, ICE HSI remains committed to protecting the rights of workers and upholding U.S. laws."
But New York was not alone in facing the fallout from ICE’s renewed vigor. In California, the Los Angeles Unified School District—one of the nation’s largest, with over 500,000 students, including 7,500 without legal status—found itself at the epicenter of the controversy. As reported by EL PAÍS, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho called on authorities to refrain from conducting immigration enforcement within a two-block radius of schools during critical hours, stating, "We don’t want anyone to stay home out of fear." Yet, fear has become a daily reality for many families.
The numbers tell a sobering story. In Florida’s Miami-Dade and Broward counties, school absenteeism has soared: Broward’s enrollment dropped by 13,059 students, while Miami-Dade saw 11,379 fewer students than the previous year. The trend is echoed in California’s Central Valley, where a Stanford University study published in June 2025 found a 22% spike in classroom absences last semester, directly linked to ICE activity. The study highlighted how the mere presence of enforcement agents near schools can disrupt attendance and erode trust between families and educational institutions.
Legal complexities further muddy the waters. Despite a longstanding restriction on raids in so-called "sensitive areas"—schools, churches, and hospitals—this policy was lifted in late January 2025. However, the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches have limited ICE’s ability to enter school buildings without a court order. As Lewis Ferebee, chancellor of Washington, D.C.’s public schools, explained, "Any law enforcement action on school grounds can only be carried out with a valid warrant or court order. If ICE agents arrive at a school, administrators are clear on what to do next." Student records remain protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), but public spaces like parking lots, driveways, and even school lobbies remain vulnerable to enforcement actions.
Faced with these realities, school communities have mobilized. In Washington, D.C., where more than 300 people were arrested in immigration-related operations during the first half of August, schools with predominantly immigrant staff have implemented protocols to prepare for potential ICE raids. At CommuniKids, where 90% of the staff are immigrants, the board has recommended that teachers carry their passports at all times. Teachers and volunteers in several cities have begun escorting students to and from school, hoping to provide reassurance and a measure of safety.
California’s schools have not been spared. Since classes resumed in early September, at least 10 arrests have been reported near schools in Los Angeles and San Diego. One particularly troubling incident involved the arrest of Baldemar Gutiérrez, a 15-year-old student at San Fernando High School who has a speech disability. Superintendent Carvalho denounced the action as "unjustifiable," while the Department of Homeland Security later admitted the agents had made a mistake during an operation targeting a different individual.
Other schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District—including Bakewell Primary Center, Harte Prep Middle School, Cortines School of Visual & Performing Arts, and Victory Boulevard Elementary—have reported ICE activity in their vicinity. Outside Linda Vista Elementary, a parent was arrested while picking up his child, prompting the district to reassure families that schools remain "safe spaces." In the Sweetwater Union High School District, agents detained a student’s father before the start of the school day, adding to the climate of anxiety.
In Florida, the situation has been similarly fraught. Near Apopka High School, a traffic operation led to the arrest of five migrants, triggering a "hold/secure" protocol that kept teachers and students in classrooms while security was assessed. With nearly 3,500 students, Apopka High is just one example of how enforcement actions can disrupt not only families but also the daily rhythms of school life.
Governor Hochul summed up the prevailing sentiment among many state and local officials: "New York will work with the federal government to secure our borders and deport violent criminals, but we will never stand for masked ICE agents separating families and abandoning children." While the Trump administration has argued that its focus is on deporting "the worst of the worst" criminals, ICE figures have shown a rise in the number of non-criminals being detained—a trend that has fueled public protests and galvanized advocacy groups nationwide.
As the new school year unfolds, the consequences of these enforcement actions are being felt in classrooms, homes, and workplaces across the country. The debate over immigration policy is far from resolved, but one thing is clear: for thousands of students, parents, and educators, the shadow of ICE has become an inescapable part of daily life—one that no amount of official reassurance can easily dispel.
