Immigration Safe Zones

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On his first day in office in 2025, President Trump rescinded protections for “sensitive locations,” such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship, from immigration enforcement.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

Model Safe Zone Resolution

____________________ Board of Education
Resolution No. _____________

WHEREAS, it is the right of every child, regardless of immigration status, to access a free public K-12 education and the District welcomes and supports all students;

WHEREAS, the District has a responsibility to ensure that all students who reside within its boundaries, regardless of immigration status, can safely access a free public K-12 education;

WHEREAS, federal immigration law enforcement activities, on or around District property and transportation routes, whether by surveillance, interview, demand for information, arrest, detention, or any other means, harmfully disrupt the learning environment to which all students, regardless of immigration status, are entitled and significantly interfere with the ability of all students, including U.S. citizen students and students who hold other legal grounds for presence in the U.S., to access a free public K-12 education;

WHEREAS, through its policies and practices, the District has made a commitment to a quality education for all students, which includes a safe and stable learning environment, means of transportation to and from school sites, the preservation of classroom hours for educational instruction, and the requirement of school attendance;

WHEREAS, parents and students have expressed to the District fear and confusion about the continued physical and emotional safety of all students and the right to access a free public K-12 education through District schools and programs;

AND WHEREAS, educational personnel are often the primary sources of support, resources, and information to assist and support students and student learning, which includes their emotional health;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the U.S. Immigrations Enforcement Office (ICE), state or local law enforcement agencies acting on behalf of ICE, or agents or officers for any federal, state, or local agency attempting to enforce federal immigration laws, are to follow District Policy ___, attached to and incorporated in this Resolution, to ensure the District meets its duty to provide all students, regardless of immigration status, access to a free public K-12 education;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board declares the District to be a Safe Zone for its students, meaning that the District is a place for students to learn, to thrive and to seek assistance, information, and support related to any immigration law enforcement that interferes with their learning experience;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the District shall, within 30 days of the date of this Resolution, create a Rapid Response Team to prepare in the event a minor child attending school in the District is deprived of adult care, supervision, or guardianship outside of school due to a federal law enforcement action, such as detention by ICE or a cooperating law enforcement agency;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, it continues to be the policy of the District not to allow any individual or organization to enter a school site if the educational setting would be disrupted by that visit; given the likelihood of substantial disruption posed by the presence of ICE or state or local law enforcement agencies acting for ICE, any request by ICE or other agencies to visit a school site should be presented to the Superintendent’s Office for review as to whether access to the site is permitted by law, a judicial warrant is required, or any other legal considerations apply; this review should be made expeditiously, but before any immigration law enforcement agent or officer appears at a school site;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, in its continued commitment to the protection of student privacy, the District shall review its record-keeping policies and practices to ensure that no data is being collected with respect to students’ immigration status or place of birth; and cease any such collection as it is irrelevant to the educational enterprise and potentially discriminatory;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, should ICE or other immigration law enforcement agents request any student information, the request should be referred to the Superintendent’s Office to ensure compliance with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), student constitutional privacy, standards for a judicial warrant, and any other limitation on disclosure; this review should be conducted expeditiously, but before any production of information is made;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the District shall post this Resolution at every school site and distribute it to District staff, students, and parents using usual means of communication, and that the Resolution will be translated into all languages spoken by students at home;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Superintendent shall report back on compliance with this Resolution to the Board at its next meeting;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board directs the Superintendent to review District policies and practices regarding bullying and report back to the Board at its next meeting and communicate to staff, students, and parents the importance of maintaining a bullying-free environment for all students;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board affirms that certificated District employees have the academic freedom to discuss this Resolution during class time provided it is age-appropriate; and students are to be made aware that District counselors are available to discuss the subjects contained in this Resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, after-school providers and other vendors and service providers who contract with the District shall be notified of this Resolution within 30 days and required to abide by it.

[FOLLOWED BY SCHOOL BOARD SIGNATURE PAGE]