Immigration 101 and Frequently Asked Questions

The Importance of Safe Zone Policies

On his first day in office in 2025, President Trump rescinded protections for “sensitive locations,” such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship, from immigration enforcement.

As immigration enforcement increased over the first year of Trump’s administration, so too has immigration presence at schools.  Immigration enforcement agents have been seen patrolling around schools, watching students and staff from school parking lots, flying surveillance drones over schools, and detaining people at school bus stops and outside of schools. In one instance, they  even deployed tear gas on school grounds.

Trump’s policy allowing immigration enforcement at schools reversed more than three decades of policy. Since 1993, the federal government has had a policy where schools and other sensitive locations were off-limits for immigration enforcement activity, including arrests, interviews, and searches.  Because of the increase in immigration enforcement activity in and around schools, it is important to put protections in place at the local level that limit immigration enforcement at schools.

Countless school districts around the country have already passed Safe Zone resolutions to do just that. Such resolutions:

• Make clear that your school district is a welcoming place for all students,
• prohibit the collection of student immigration information and
• establish procedures for responding to immigration enforcement.

It is important to understand that a Safe Zone resolution does not provide immunity should you decline to obey directives from law enforcement.

Rather, it provides steps that you should request that law enforcement follow. If law enforcement refuses to cooperate, that becomes a matter for district legal counsel and courts to determine. You should not put yourself or those around you at risk to enforce the requirements.

Educators should never physically interfere with or obstruct an immigration officer in the performance of his or her duties as doing so is unlawful,  could escalate the situation and could endanger both the educator and students.

If your school district has not yet adopted a Safe Zones resolution or other policy for all school staff to follow if immigration officers show up at school, here are some guidelines for what educators should do.

• If immigration officers attempt to enter a school’s campus, educators should direct ICE/CBP agents to the school district Superintendent. The Superintendent should request to see written legal authorization and verify the identity of the agents. It is important for the Superintendent to review, with legal counsel, what the immigration officer provides as such legal authorization.  There is a distinction between an ICE administrative warrant and a traditional federal court warrant. School districts may respond differently depending on the type of warrant.
• An ICE administrative “warrant” is the most typical type of “warrant” used by immigration officers. It authorizes an immigration officer to arrest a person suspected of violating immigration laws. It is not a warrant within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because an ICE warrant is not supported by a showing of probable cause of a criminal offense and is not issued by a court judge or magistrate.
  • An ICE warrant does not grant an immigration officer any special power to compel school officials to cooperate and is not a “court order” that would, under FERPA, allow a school to disclose educational records without parent or guardian consent.
• A federal or state court warrant is issued by a federal or state court judge. A school official should act in accordance with district policy when presented with a federal or state court warrant.
• An administrative subpoena is a document that requests production of documents or other evidence and is issued by an immigration officer. School districts do not need to immediately comply with the ICE administrative subpoena. If an immigration officer arrives with an administrative subpoena, the school district may decline to produce the information sought and may choose to challenge the administrative subpoena before a judge.

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, and other right-wing organizations propose requiring public schools to charge tuition to certain immigrant children as a way of setting up a legal challenge to overturn Plyler v. Doe. These groups are also encouraging states to pass legislation to collect the immigration information of all students. Plyler still remains the law of the land. Public schools cannot deny undocumented students access to public education including by charging tuition to immigrant students. Public schools also cannot “chill” enrollment in violation of Plyler by requiring students and their families to provide citizenship or immigration information.

To protect students and their Plyler rights, you can:

• Work to pass state or local laws or policies such as Safe Zone resolutions (see above) that prohibit K-12 schools from collecting student immigration information.
• Work with your State Attorney General and State Department of Education to issue guidance making clear that schools should not collect student immigration data.
• Work with your State Attorney General and State Department of Education to issue guidance buttressing the right of all students to attend public school, regardless of immigration status, pursuant to Plyler v. Doe, your state constitution, and any applicable state laws.
• Work to pass state laws that establish that all children have the right to attend public school, regardless of immigration status.
• Make sure your school district does not collect immigration status in any educational records.
• If your school district begins collecting student immigration information or attempts to charge tuition to immigrant students, inform your state affiliate and NEA.

Under federal law, schools cannot turn over personally identifiable student records to police, federal agents, or immigration officials without the written consent of a parent or guardian, unless the information is requested through a subpoena or court order such as a judicial warrant.

• Schools can disclose students’ “directory information” without the family’s consent unless the school district is notified that the family has “opted out” from such sharing.
• Make sure that your school district does not include place of birth in directory information. If it does, advocate to end the practice of collecting place of birth information and decline to provide it for your children.
• Inform parents of their right to opt out of the directory information.

Remember that both federal and state, and in many places local, law protects students from discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin. This means that:

• Students cannot be discriminated against because of their birthplace, ancestry, culture or language.
• Students have the right to be free from bullying and harassment based on their race, religion, or national origin, and have the right to learn in an environment free from hateful symbols and derogatory comments.
• School officials have a legal duty to address hateful rhetoric and behavior.
• Schools may not retaliate against anyone – staff or students – who make complaints about racial, religious, or national origin harassment.

What is Plyer v Doe?

Plyer v Doe is a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 1982. The Court ruled that states cannot deny students a free public education on account of their immigration status.

Where have large-scale immigration enforcement actions taken place?

We have seen large-scale ICE enforcement actions throughout the country, including in Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, and Minneapolis. We have also seen “surges” of ICE activity in states like North Carolina, Maine, and Ohio.

It is likely that more large-scale immigration enforcement actions will occur in other cities and states. These could include  states and localities where law enforcement has agreed to cooperate with ICE. A list of locations with 287(g) agreements (for local law enforcement cooperation with ICE) is available here: https://www.ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g

Is someone’s family or home at risk during an ICE workplace operation or raid?

During a workplace raid or operation, ICE also may visit workers’ homes, particularly of workers whose records are found at the company.

If ICE agents visit a worker’s home, families are under no obligation to answer questions or even open the door unless the agents have a warrant signed by a federal or state court judge.

ICE is known to routinely question people who are present during operations—even if they have no relation to the investigation. If ICE can identify family members or other household members whom they deem a priority for deportation, those individuals also could be detained and taken into immigration custody, sometimes referred to as “collateral arrests.”

Could immigration enforcement take place at or near schools?

Yes. The Trump administration ended “sensitive locations” protections that protected schools, hospitals, and other community-serving institutions from routine immigration enforcement activity. As a result, educators across the country have reported that ICE agents have been seen in school parking lots, school bus stops, and have been engaging in immigration enforcement actions near schools during arrival and dismissal times. There also have been several instances of ICE agents entering school grounds to conduct enforcement actions. As a result, NEA strongly encourages schools and school districts to adopt a safe zones policy that outlines what educators, and staff should do if ICE attempts to engage in immigration enforcement at schools. Hundreds of school districts around the country already have adopted a safe zones policy.

What plans can schools have in place to prepare for ICE activity that affect families?

• Check frequently with families to ensure that contact information is up to date, since phone numbers and addresses could change multiple times during a school year.
• Affirmatively request that parents list one or two local friends or family members who could receive (“check out”) the child in the event of an ICE raid or other emergency.
  • After a raid, sometimes only people who are not listed on the child’s school registration list may be available to pick them up.
• Have a list of potential interpreters at the ready. After a community experiences large-scale immigration enforcement, expect to be overwhelmed by the need for Spanish speakers to respond to questions and serve those attempting to get students checked out to responsible adults. A shortage of interpreters may be especially acute in more rural areas.
  • Reach out to universities in the area if there are any Spanish faculty/students who might be willing to interpret.
  • Compile a list of community interpreter volunteers ahead of time.
• Set up a rapid-response network or become part of an existing one.
  • This might include planning for text trees, phone trees, recruiting videographers and photographers, people to make banners, legal observers, etc. Make sure attorneys and communications-focused people are included as well.
  • Create a network of friends, family, and neighbors to be ready to protest or take action if a raid happens.

What are an employer’s rights and responsibilities during a workplace immigration raid?

ICE Arrival

• Employers should call their lawyer immediately when a raid begins.
• Examine any search warrant and send a copy to your lawyer. Ensure the warrant is:
  • Signed by a federal or state court,
  • Served within the permitted time frame,
  • The search is within the scope of the warrant (the area to be searched and the items to be seized).
• The employer can accept the warrant but not consent to the search. If you do not consent to the search, the search will proceed but you can later challenge it if there are grounds to do so.
• Write down the name of the supervising ICE agent and the name of the U.S. Attorney assigned to the case.

Executing the Raid

• Do not block or interfere with ICE activities or the agents. However, you do not have to give the agents access to non-public areas if they did not present a valid search warrant.
• If agents presented a valid search warrant and want access to locked facilities, unlock them.
• Object to a search outside the scope of the warrant. Do not engage in a debate or argument with the agent about the scope of the warrant. Simply present your objection to the agent and make note of it.
• Have at least one company representative follow each agent around the facility. The employee may take notes or videotape the officer. Note any items seized and ask if copies can be made before they are taken. If ICE does not agree, you can obtain copies later.
• Request reasonable accommodations as necessary. If agents insist on seizing something that is vital to your operation, explain why it is vital and ask for permission to photocopy it before the original is seized. Reasonable requests are usually granted.
• Protect privileged materials.
  • If agents wish to examine documents designated as attorney-client privileged material (such as letters or memoranda to or from counsel), tell them they are privileged and request that attorney-client documents not be inspected by the agents until you are able to speak to your attorney.
  • If agents insist on seizing such documents, you cannot prevent them from doing so. If such documents are seized, try to record in your notes exactly which documents were taken by the agents.
• Ask for a copy of the list of items seized during the search. The agents are required to provide this inventory to you.

Employee Interactions with ICE

• You may inform employees that they may choose whether or not to talk with ICE, but do not direct them to refuse to speak to agents when questioned.
• Ask if your employees are free to leave. If they are not free to leave, they have a right to an attorney. Though you should not instruct your employees to refuse to speak to ICE, they also have the right to remain silent and do not need to answer any questions.
• Do not hide employees or assist them in leaving the premises.
• Do not provide false or misleading information, falsely deny the presence of named employees, or shred documents.
• Don’t forget the health and welfare of your employees. Enforcement actions can sometimes last for hours. If an employee requires medication or medical attention or if employees have children who need to be picked up from school, communicate these concerns to the ICE officers.
• Company representatives should not give any statements to ICE agents or allow themselves to be interrogated before consulting with an attorney.