WASHINGTON (AP) — She last met her husband, the father of three, when she left her Washington apartment a month ago to buy milk and diapers. Eventually he called to say he had been handed over, but it was just local police so there was no need to worry. The next time she heard from him, he was in a detention center in Virginia.
Since that day, the three 40-year-old mothers have been so scared they can’t take their two sons to a nearby charter school. Like her husband, who has since been deported, she is an immigrant from Guatemala and has lived in the United States illegally for over a decade. She spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear that she would be targeted. Immigration Authority.
All three of the couple’s children were born in the country’s capital, and the older two attended local charter schools. She had planned to keep them home until the volunteers offered to drive them. Still, one of the boys was so mad at his father’s absence that he missed three days of school for a week.
Washington schools reopened later last month Surge in law enforcement This has made masked immigrants and customs enforcement agents a normal, quiet area. The scene where President Donald Trump sends federal agents to the streets is likely to be recreated elsewhere. Other big cities.
In some Washington communities, the fear spread by the presence of police has hit children. Some students were wiped out by their parents with crackdowns. Other students fear that they and their families will come next. Parents are working on ways to explain the situation.
“The Columbia Board of Education has taught me a lot about my life,” said Ben Williams, a high school social studies teacher who is also a teacher for the Columbia State Board of Education. “It really makes everyone feel sick every day about someone, a member of the community, a parent, or whether they’re connected to or connected to the community.”
Arrest instills fear
In the Mount Pleasant area of northwest Washington, a $1 million low house and an affordable apartment with immigrant families share the same tree-lined block of federal agents, making it a common sight, with neighbors documenting several arrests.
Raul Cortez, an immigrant from El Salvador, said his 7-year-old son is deeply afraid of police.
“Kids pay attention. They are very intelligent and they know what’s going on,” Cortez said.
After a while, his son found an idling police car. His eyes widened.
Noting that some parents were afraid to leave the house, volunteers began organising “walking buses” to accompany children’s groups on foot from apartment to school. Outside Bancroft Elementary School, which teaches students in English and Spanish, volunteers are stationed on street corners in orange vests, ready to blow whi if you see signs of immigration authorities.
Immigration enforcement could lead to dropping off to school attendees
Investigations link migrant attacks near schools Declining academic achievements For Latinx students who are likely to have immigrant and family connections.
Trump’s immigration crackdown has also affected attendance at schools in other parts of the country. In the months since his inauguration in January, districts across the country reported low attendance as immigrant families I left the kids at home. In California’s Central Valley, the migrant raids in January and February coincided with a 22% rise in student absences compared to the past two years, according to a survey by Stanford University economist Thomas Dee and Big Local News.
In Washington, vice mayor for education, Paul Keene said at a press conference near the beginning of the school year that attendance was on the same level as last year. DC Public Schools, which educate about half of the district’s students, said it could not provide data on school attendance during federal intervention.
But Williams, who represents schools serving large immigrant communities, said attendance at some schools was a hit.
All over the country, educators have been on guard ever since Republican Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security in January to withdraw a memo banning officers. Entering school or church Without the approval of the supervisor. They replaced it with guidance urging officers to use “common sense of discretion and sound doses” before stepping into school campus.
The nation’s largest teachers’ union He filed a lawsuit Last week, some children dropped out of school, saying that arrests near campus had sparked fears over immigration crackdowns.
In response, Homeland Security authorities said ICE agents were not enrolled in schools to arrest them. “Ice is not engaged in enforcement activities at school or has not “raids.” Ice is not going to school to arrest a child,” Deputy Director Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Emma Lehenney, an education lawyer who worked in the education division under Democrat President Joe Biden, said fear could spread even if ice agents weren’t in school.
“The effect is instant cold as the ice surrounds local schools and leaves the impression they may have, and it spreads beyond the school buildings to the neighborhood and community,” Lehenney said.
Many of those targeted children are US citizens
According to the Pew Research Center, in 2023, 4.6 million US-born children lived with parents who had no permission to stay in the country. Another 1.5 million children were themselves without legal permission.
Tolls are particularly steep for children who are separated from their parents.
The mother of three, from Guatemalan, said her sons are now sleeping in bed and are waking up in the middle of the night and crying. This week her husband arrived in Guatemala. Without childcare, she is thinking of returning to her home country, as she cannot work while she is afraid of deportation.
“My dream was to give them the best education.
Her eldest son wanted to become a doctor, and her middle child wanted to become a police officer.
“That American dream,” she said.
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