Toughening immigration policies in the US, particularly raids targeting undocumented immigrants, have been found to significantly impact school attendance. Experts and education advocates have long warned that such raids create fear among parents, causing them to keep their children out of school.
According to “Tehsil365”, citing EdSurge, a study by Stanford University economist Thomas Dee revealed that during immigration raids in California’s Central Valley, daily school attendance dropped by approximately 22%. The decline was especially pronounced among elementary school students and persisted over time.
Research shows that the children most affected by these raids tend to come from migrant families working in agriculture. This situation negatively impacts both the educational process and students’ psychological well-being within school communities. Experts note that parents are afraid to send their children to school, and many students no longer feel a sense of belonging in the school environment.
Jacob Kirksey, an education researcher at Texas Tech University, compares such immigration raids to natural disasters due to the similar levels of absenteeism and stress they cause among students. For instance, after a major immigration raid in Texas in 2018, school attendance declined, students' reading and math performance dropped, and many children left the area altogether.
Additionally, although US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) previously operated under guidelines that restricted raids near schools, childcare centers, and places of worship, those protections were rolled back during the Trump administration—further intensifying the climate of fear.
In the long term, this situation could limit educational opportunities for children from low-income and immigrant families and may also lead to reduced school funding as enrollment numbers fall.