When Immigration Policy Walks Into the Classroom

Written By Dayson Pasion

Welcome to The RootED Weekly

Deeply Rooted in Education and Equity
Issue 04 | 11 April 2025

A Note from Dayson

As the son of immigrants, I know what it feels like to carry fear quietly.

As an educator, I’ve seen how that fear moves through families. How it shows up in hushed conversations, in missed school days, in the heaviness that settles over classrooms when a student wonders if their parent will be home that night.

This week, we’re focusing on a story that should stop us in our tracks: federal agents attempting to enter two public elementary schools in Los Angeles to access young children, without warrants, and under false pretenses. It’s a reminder that what happens at the national level doesn’t stay in Washington. It walks into our schools. It sits with our students. It shapes what safety means for entire communities.

I started RootED Consultancy to help ensure that every student feels seen, safe, and supported, especially those pushed to the margins. That mission feels more urgent than ever. I hope this issue of The RootED Weekly gives you the tools to take action, the context to understand what’s at stake, and the clarity to stand firm in your values.

No matter your role, your voice matters. Ask your school board how they’re protecting immigrant students. Share this newsletter. Educate your networks. A just education system doesn’t just teach, it shields, it affirms, and it stands up when it counts.

In community and in solidarity,

-Dayson Pasión
Founder & Principal Consultant, RootED Consultancy

Digging Deeper: When Immigration Enforcement Enters Our Schools

In 2017, I was a public school educator in Alamance County, just a few blocks from the county jail that housed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees. Every day, I passed by that facility on my way to school, fully aware that some of my students lived with the fear that a family member might not be home when they returned. That fear wasn’t abstract. It shaped how students showed up—or didn’t—in our classrooms. It weighed on their shoulders, stifled their curiosity, and dulled their sense of safety. As educators, we weren’t just teaching math or reading. We were helping students carry what no child should ever have to bear alone.

The fear was personal for me too. As the son of immigrants, I saw how immigration enforcement policies, especially those steeped in racial profiling and detention partnerships, fractured communities and turned public institutions into sites of surveillance. And Alamance County wasn’t just any backdrop. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the local sheriff’s department for illegally targeting Latine drivers and enabling deportation proceedings under the 287(g) program.

That lawsuit may have ended, but the fear didn’t. And now, with immigration crackdowns once again ramping up under a second Trump administration, that fear is resurfacing in classrooms across our country.

The New Policy Climate

Early in his second term, President Trump has reignited his mass deportation agenda: attempting to limit birthright citizenship, increasing ICE raids, and arresting more than 32,809 people in the administration’s first 50 days, according to the agency’s public statements. In North Carolina, many immigrant families, especially those in counties like Alamance, are bracing for the return of aggressive enforcement tactics, fueled by both federal and local cooperation.

In North Carolina, state legislators are proposing measures that align with these federal initiatives:

  • Senate Bill 153: Known as the "North Carolina Border Protection Act," this bill requires state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, prohibits undocumented immigrants from accessing certain state-funded benefits, and mandates audits to ensure compliance.

  • House Bill 318: This bill mandates local jails to hold individuals longer for ICE and expands the list of crimes that trigger immigration status checks.

For many immigrant families and educators, the question isn’t whether enforcement will return—it’s whether their schools will be ready.

The Impact on Students and Families

Immigration enforcement doesn’t have to happen inside a school building to shape how students experience learning; it already does. For children growing up in mixed-status families, fear of deportation shadows everything: how they show up at school, whether their parents attend events, how much they trust adults, and how they plan for their futures.

According to UndocuCarolina, an estimated 170,000 U.S. citizen children in North Carolina live with at least one undocumented family member. These children are disproportionately Latine and often must navigate developmental milestones while coping with the looming threat of family separation.

As Ramos-Sánchez and Llamas (2024) explain, immigration policy changes, particularly increased enforcement, broadened deportation categories, and practices like workplace raids, have produced long-term psychological trauma in children of undocumented parents. Even the threat of parental detention is linked to:

  • Elevated rates of anxiety, depression, and hypervigilance

  • Interrupted access to education and early childhood programs

  • Economic hardship, often forcing older children into caregiving or employment roles

  • Feelings of second-class citizenry, where children legally born in the U.S. are still denied full participation in society because of their parent’s status

When parents are deported, children may face the impossible choice between relocating to a country they’ve never known or remaining in the U.S. without their caregivers. Some children become heads of household overnight. Others experience what researchers call “ambiguous loss,” a trauma rooted in not knowing if or when they’ll ever be reunited with their parent.

This is not just about documentation. It’s about dignity, development, and the role of schools as spaces of protection. If we want to create environments where students thrive, we must start by acknowledging the invisible burdens many carry before they even walk through the door.

What Schools Can—and Must—Do

Schools are not neutral spaces in this conversation. They can either reinforce fear or create safety. They can either look away or hold the line.

Here are three urgent steps every school and district should take:

Holding the Line

I believe in public education because I believe in its promise to be a safe, welcoming, liberatory space for all students. But that promise rings hollow if we’re not prepared to defend it, especially for those who walk through our doors carrying invisible burdens.

So I’ll ask you this:
If ICE showed up at your school tomorrow, would your team know what to do? Would your students feel safe?

We cannot wait for fear to arrive. Let’s lead with knowledge, preparedness, and solidarity, rooted in justice, and committed to keeping families together.

RootED Resource of the Week

Know Your Rights Toolkit — Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)

This week’s featured resource is the Know Your Rights Toolkit from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), designed to help immigrant families, educators, and community leaders navigate a moment of increased immigration enforcement with knowledge, preparedness, and power.

This toolkit equips individuals and organizations with the tools to educate immigrant communities about their rights, prepare for interactions with immigration enforcement, and organize rapid response networks. It includes:

✅ Bilingual “Know Your Rights” handouts for community members and students
✅ Templates for family preparedness plans and emergency contact cards
✅ Guidance for responding to ICE at home, in public, or at work
✅ Tools to host local “Know Your Rights” presentations and trainings

Explore and download the full toolkit here.

In the News: Federal Agents Turn Up at Two LA Schools Seeking ‘Access’ to Young Children

In a chilling and unprecedented move, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents recently attempted to enter two Los Angeles elementary schools seeking direct access to five students ranging from first to sixth grade. According to LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, the agents falsely claimed they had permission from the children's guardians to conduct welfare checks, a claim school officials quickly found to be "blatantly untrue." Neither group of agents had a warrant, and both were denied entry.

The federal visits, believed to be the first of their kind targeting students this young, sparked immediate fear in immigrant communities already bracing for a new wave of immigration crackdowns under the Trump administration. Though the agents appeared in plain clothes, their affiliation with DHS raised alarm over how federal enforcement agencies are encroaching on public education spaces. Superintendent Carvalho and the LAUSD Board stood firm, reaffirming the district’s sanctuary status and commitment to protecting students and families from federal overreach.

Read the full article from The 74.

The fact that federal agents attempted to access children inside public schools without a warrant should sound every alarm. This isn’t just about immigration, it’s about safety, trust, and the sanctity of our schools as places of learning, not surveillance. While this happened in LA, the fear it generates reverberates across the country, especially in communities like ours in North Carolina with high numbers of immigrant and mixed-status families. It’s a stark reminder that educators and school leaders must be ready, legally, logistically, and morally, to protect their students. As we continue to navigate this political moment, we must ask ourselves: Are we prepared to draw the line when immigration enforcement crosses the schoolhouse door?

Equity Spotlight: Siembra NC

Organizing Power. Defending Dignity. Building Liberation from the Ground Up.

This week’s spotlight shines on Siembra NC, a Latine and immigrant-led organization rooted in the vision that those closest to injustice should lead the fight for change. Working across North Carolina, Siembra builds power with working-class, undocumented, and mixed-status communities to create a future where every immigrant can live with dignity, safety, and freedom.

At a time when immigrant families are being targeted by harsh enforcement policies and rising xenophobia, Siembra isn’t backing down, they’re organizing, educating, and taking action. Whether it’s fighting deportations, training grassroots leaders, or holding local officials accountable, Siembra’s work centers the resilience and brilliance of Latinx immigrants in North Carolina.

What Makes Their Work Powerful:

  • Community Defense: Rapid response organizing to stop ICE deportations and protect immigrant families.

  • Political Education: Equipping directly impacted people with the tools to understand and challenge systems of oppression.

  • Leadership Development: Cultivating local leaders and building coalitions rooted in collective care and justice.

In a state where immigrant students and families often feel unseen or unsafe, Siembra NC is transforming fear into collective power and showing what’s possible when communities rise together.

Learn more or support their work: siembranc.org

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Dayson Pasion
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Banned Books, Broken Trust, and the Politics of Distraction
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Held Together by Hope: The State of Teaching in North Carolina