President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are already having an impact on schools nationwide.

In Fresno, California, rumors circulating on social media about imminent immigration raids at local schools caused panic among some parents, despite the fact that the raids were fake. In Denver, a genuine immigration operation carried out at an apartment complex resulted in many students skipping school, as stated in a lawsuit. Meanwhile, in Alice, Texas, a school official mistakenly informed parents that Border Patrol agents could board school buses to inspect immigration documents.

President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are already impacting schools nationwide, as officials are dealing with increased anxiety among parents and their children, including those who are legally present. Trump’s executive orders significantly broadened the criteria for deportation and removed restrictions on immigration enforcement within schools.

Although numerous public and school officials are actively promoting the idea of immigrants enrolling their children in school, some have taken a contrary stance. In Oklahoma and Tennessee, Republicans have introduced measures that would create significant barriers—potentially even preventing—children who are in the country illegally, as well as U.S.-born children of undocumented parents, from accessing education altogether.

While assessing the risks, many families have found it difficult to distinguish between fact and rumor.

In the Alice Independent School District in Texas, school officials informed parents that the district had been alerted that U.S. Border Patrol agents might question students about their citizenship status during field trips on school buses traveling through checkpoints approximately 60 miles from the Texas-Mexico border. However, this information turned out to be untrue.

Angelib Hernandez from Aurora, Colorado, started keeping her children home from school a few days each week following Trump’s inauguration. Now, she doesn’t send them to school at all.

She is concerned that immigration agents might go to her children’s schools, apprehend them, and cause her family to be separated.

“They expressed to me, ‘We hope we never have to face detention alone.’ That idea frightens them,” she remarked.

Hernandez and her children came to the U.S. around a year ago and sought asylum. She was following the correct legal procedures to stay in the country, but recent shifts in immigration policies have created uncertainty regarding her status.

Over the past week, her anxieties have grown stronger. She believes that it seems like “everyone” — including Spanish-language media, social media, and other students and their parents — is suggesting that immigration authorities are preparing to come into schools in the Denver area. The school assures parents that their children are safe, but she says, “We don’t believe that.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have not been reported to have entered schools at any location. However, the mere possibility has caused concern among families, leading some school districts to advocate for a modification of the policy that permits agents to operate within schools.

Last week, Denver Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that the Trump administration has disrupted the education of the young individuals under its supervision. Last year, Denver welcomed 43,000 migrants from the southern border, many of whom attended the city’s public schools. The district noted in the lawsuit that attendance at schools with a high concentration of migrant children has declined in recent weeks, attributing part of this drop to an immigration raid at a nearby apartment complex.

In the lawsuit, the district’s lawyers stated that the assistance provided by Denver schools to students and families during this time of uncertainty involves “activities that divert attention and resources away from DPS’s fundamental educational mission.”

Across the nation, conservatives have been raising concerns about whether undocumented immigrants should be entitled to access public education.

Ryan Walters, the Republican state superintendent of Oklahoma, introduced a regulation mandating that parents present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, to enroll their children in school. Although the rule would have permitted parents to register their children without this documentation, advocates argue that it would have significantly dissuaded them from doing so. Even the state’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, considered the rule excessive and chose to veto it.

In Tennessee, Republican legislators have introduced a measure that would empower school districts to choose whether to accept undocumented students. They express their intention to provoke legal disputes, which could provide an opportunity to challenge a longstanding legal precedent that guarantees the educational rights of all children in the nation.

The impact of immigration policy on schools in the United States is significant. In 2021, the organization Fwd.us, which supports reforms in immigration and criminal justice, estimated that there were 600,000 K-12 students in the U.S. without legal status. Additionally, around 4 million students, many of whom are U.S.-born, have a parent who is living in the country without legal permission.

Immigration raids have been found to affect the academic success of students, including those who are born in the country. In North Carolina and California, studies reveal that Hispanic students experience decreased attendance and enrollment when local law enforcement is involved in a program that allows them to enforce immigration laws. Additionally, another study indicated that test scores for Hispanic students decline in schools located near areas where workplace raids occur.

In Fresno, student attendance has decreased by between 700 and 1,000 each day since Trump assumed the presidency. Officials in the central California school district have been inundated with anxious calls from parents concerned about rumored immigration raids, including those purportedly occurring at schools, according to Carlos Castillo, the chief of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Fresno Unified School District. However, these alleged school raids have turned out to be false alarms.

Castillo stated, “It’s not only about students who have citizenship or legal status. They worry about their parents, family members, and friends, and they’re frightened that immigration officials might invade their schools or homes.”

Recently, a school principal contacted Castillo in a state of distress after a family expressed their fear of going out to buy groceries. The principal took it upon herself to shop for the family, delivering $100 worth of groceries to their home, where she then sat with them and cried, as reported by Castillo.

The district has been collaborating with families to educate them about their rights and provide guidance on matters such as selling assets or arranging for child custody in the event that the parents depart from the U.S. They have teamed up with local organizations that can offer legal assistance to families and have conducted nearly twelve meetings, some of which were held via Zoom.