Overview:
A survey of more than 700 K–12 educators finds widespread concern that immigration enforcement near schools is driving fear, absenteeism, and disengagement — and that many districts have given staff no clear guidance on how to respond.
A survey of more than 700 K–12 educators finds widespread concern that immigration enforcement near schools is driving fear, absenteeism, and disengagement — and that many districts have given staff no clear guidance on how to respond.
A new national survey of more than 700 K–12 educators finds that a clear majority believe recent federal immigration enforcement policies are undermining students’ sense of safety at school, and that an overwhelming majority want schools formally protected from on-campus enforcement.
Conducted in early 2026 by The Educator’s Room, the survey gathered responses from classroom teachers, administrators, support staff, and parents across urban, suburban, and rural communities — from California and Texas to Illinois, New York, Georgia, and the Pacific Northwest. The findings are detailed in a new policy brief, When Enforcement Reaches the Schoolhouse Door: What Educators Are Saying About ICE in Schools.
The survey follows the 2025 rescission of longstanding “sensitive location” protections that had, for nearly two decades, generally kept immigration enforcement away from schools, churches, and hospitals. With those protections removed, educators report that the threat of enforcement has reached into classrooms and the surrounding communities.
Key Findings
- 62% of respondents said ICE enforcement policies significantly or somewhat reduce students’ sense of safety at school.
- 82% support designating schools as safe havens that limit or prohibit ICE enforcement on campus — a supermajority that, according to the brief, crossed ideological and geographic lines.
- 80% said schools should either actively protect students and families or provide limited support within legal boundaries.
- 32% reported that their district had provided no guidance, or unclear guidance, on how to respond if ICE agents appeared on campus.
Fear in the Classroom
Educators described a kind of anxiety they said was distinct from ordinary school stress, rooted in the fear of family separation. Teachers reported families keeping children home during periods of rumored enforcement activity, declining attendance at conferences and school events, and reduced use of school-based health, meal, and counseling services. Several noted the chilling effect reaches the entire student body, not only undocumented students.
“My job is to educate and protect children, not to act as an extension of federal law enforcement,” wrote one high school teacher from Chicago who responded to the survey.
A guidance gap compounded the strain: nearly one in three educators said they lacked a clear framework for responding to enforcement at school, including confusion over the legal difference between administrative warrants, which ICE may present, and judicial warrants signed by a judge.
A Call for Codified Protections
The brief grounds the debate in Plyler v. Doe (1982), the U.S. Supreme Court decision guaranteeing undocumented children access to a free public education. While that ruling does not bar federal enforcement, the brief argues the guarantee is eroded in practice when fear keeps children out of classrooms.
Based on the findings, the brief recommends that districts issue clear written protocols for responding to enforcement, that lawmakers codify sensitive-location protections in statute, that safe-haven protections extend to bus stops and commute routes, and that high-enforcement communities receive funding for trauma-informed mental health support.
“This survey was especially eye-opening as it showed that teachers in the United States are not only called to teach content, but to deal with societal ills- mainly worrying about if kids will be kidnapped by their own government,” said Franchesca Warren, Founder at The Educator’s Room.
About the Survey
The survey was a self-selected national poll of more than 700 educators distributed in early 2026. Percentages are approximations, and the findings are intended to be indicative of educator sentiment rather than nationally representative. Obvious duplicate or spam responses were excluded. The accompanying brief also draws on background research from the American Immigration Council and the Vera Institute of Justice.
About The Educator’s Room
Our vision is a world where politicians, parents, and the general public recognize that teachers are an integral part of the educational reform and their opinion is desperately needed. Therefore, in this new world, teachers should be empowered as experts in education. This new world will be a place where students are actually able to learn and not be held hostage by initiatives and standardized testing. Parents and educators will be able to work hand in hand to empower real reform without politicians interfering in the learning process.
The full policy brief is available here.
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