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The Chicago Board of Education passed a resolution Thursday reaffirming its commitment to protect students of various immigration statuses, gender identities, and sexual orientation following last week’s presidential election.
The resolution, approved unanimously by the school board during a special board meeting, acknowledged that the results of the election “may have caused fear, concern, confusion, sadness, anger, or anxiety in CPS staff, students, and their families.”
“We stand very steadfast to these principles and we will defend every student here,” said board member Olga Bautista. She added that it’s “unconscionable” to see anyone “emboldened” to call immigration officials on “our people at work or at schools.”
While on the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump has said that he wants to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Many are students attending public schools around the country.
“It’s the body that has a duty today, an urgent one, to model what it looks like to be a beacon to the rest of the country,” said Jackson Potter, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, during the meeting.
The board’s resolution called for the district to provide training and support for students, their families, and staff on immigrants’ rights and resources in multiple languages on legal assistance, mental health care, and public safety. It said the district will advocate on the state and federal levels for programs that assist or protect people with varying immigration statuses, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrant children. The board said it would oppose any legislation that creates “a Muslim registry system” or erodes civil rights.
The resolution also said the district “will not provide assistance to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law” and that ICE will not be allowed to enter or interact with district facilities or staff unless it provides CPS with a criminal warrant.”
Chicago Public Schools is one of hundreds of school districts that have declared themselves sanctuaries or safe havens for immigrant students since Trump was elected the first time. But Chicago has been a sanctuary city since 1985, well before Trump even entered politics. Then-Mayor Harold Washington signed an executive order declaring protections for immigrants that became law in 2006.
Chicago appears to be one of the first large school districts to make a public display of resistance and support for students after the 2024 election.
The district passed a “welcoming district” resolution in December 2016, but first committed to the idea of sanctuary schools in 2019 as part of its contract agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union and affirmed its position in 2022. In 2017, Denver Public Schools took steps to reassure immigrant families their students would be protected. Philadelphia’s school board passed a sanctuary resolution in 2021. Newark Public Schools passed a similar resolution in 2017.
Since 2022, CPS has enrolled thousands of migrant students, many of whom are seeking asylum from political and economic upheaval in Central and South American countries.The district said its share of students learning English as a new language increased by more than 12% this school year — far more than any other student group.
This past spring, the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, urged states to require public schools to charge tuition to migrant children and children with undocumented parents, denying them a free public education.
Trump has expressed a willingness to target immigrant children and their families and target policies that would protect them.
Samantha Smylie contributed.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
