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On Chicago’s north side, a Spanish-speaking teacher persuaded a nervous migrant mother, who had stopped sending her son to school because of fear of the Trump administration’s immigration raids, to let him come back.
In Brighton Park, a majority Latino neighborhood on the city’s southwest side, an elementary school principal has been sharing his experience as an immigrant, so that families feel more comfortable.
In Pilsen, a predominantly Latino neighborhood and historically a neighborhood where Mexican families have immigrated to, a high school launched an emergency immigration chat and told parents that it’s OK for students with immigration concerns to stay home.
As part of a vow to crack down on illegal immigration, President Donald Trump in his first week in office canceled a previous policy to keep ICE agents away from “sensitive locations,” such as schools and churches. Federal agents have stepped up “targeted immigration enforcement” in Chicago, arresting at least 100 people in the city and surrounding suburbs, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters Tuesday.
During a Chicago Board of Education meeting Thursday, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez urged parents to send their children to school “so they can receive the education they deserve.”
“School is where every child in our city belongs regardless of their immigration status, and we will do everything in our power to protect them while they’re in our care,” Martinez said.
CPS schools, which have received thousands of migrant students in recent years, are training staff and families on their rights and grappling with how to convince their communities that schools are safe. The Chicago Teachers Union has called on the district, which has trained principals, to train more staff; CPS said it is “exploring additional options for providing teacher training.”
Those efforts were put to the test on Friday, when staff at Hamline Elementary School in the Back of the Yards neighborhood falsely reported turning away Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, sparking fear among already anxious staff and students. The district later confirmed that the agents were U.S. Secret Service investigating a threat, but advocates said the school’s response was proof that staff was trained well.
“This is the first time that I had heard of the protocol working after the sensitive locations memo was pulled, and that’s really important evidence for us advocates — [and] even parents — to see this could work,” said Alejandra Vázquez Baur, who leads the National Newcomer Network, a group of educators, advocates, and researchers who focus on equity for newcomer immigrant students.
Teacher allays fears of migrant mom
Nathy, who came to the United States in 2023 from Venezuela to flee political persecution, kept her son out of his elementary school last week, even though the school told families that it’s safe. She also stayed home from her job at a nail salon.
Chalkbeat is only using Nathy’s first name to protect her privacy.
Nathy and her family have Temporary Protected Status, which allows her to live and work in the U.S. This type of status was extended to October 2026 by former President Joe Biden’s administration shortly before he left office. However, on Tuesday, the Trump administration revoked the extension, making it unclear how long people like Nathy can remain legally in the U.S., the New York Times reported. Nathy had applied for asylum, which provides a path to citizenship, but her request was denied during an immigration court hearing in December, she said.
Now, Nathy is fearful of being sent back to Venezuela, which the Biden administration labeled as experiencing a “severe humanitarian crisis.” She, her two sons — one of whom is no longer in school — and her brother stayed inside their apartment last week, she said.
Her younger son, however, wanted to go back to school and “was very stressed locked up at home,” she said in Spanish via text message.
After her son was absent for a few days, one of the school’s Spanish-speaking teachers reached out to Nathy to persuade her to send him to school.
“He sent me an email with the rights we have and how they protect children at school,” she said.
On Tuesday, Nathy took her son back to class and also returned to work. She couldn’t afford to miss out on more pay, she said.
Her son is happy to be back, but Nathy is still nervous, she said.
“Before I felt calm,” she said by text. “Now it’s a nightmare to live here. ”
Elementary principal relates to immigrant families
At Gunsaulus Scholastic Academy in Brighton Park, where nearly half of the students were English language learners last year, the principal has unique credibility with families: He struggled for decades with his own immigration status.
Principal Marlon Henriquez said he and his mother were undocumented when they left El Salvador in 1996 to join Henriquez’s father in the United States. In 2001, they and other Salvadorian nationals were granted Temporary Protected Status and authorization to work in the U.S. after devastating earthquakes in El Salvador, he said. Awaiting his work authorization renewal over the years always made Henriquez anxious, he said.
“Once that date was up, it was possible I would not be able to work,” Henriquez said.
Last May, Henriquez was granted a green card — legal permanent residency — after decades in the United States. He’s been sharing his story in recent weeks with school families to let them know: “I’m with them, I support them, and I understand how difficult this can be.”
Gunsaulus has shared information, just like other schools, about what the school will do in the event ICE shows up, including turning immigration agents away unless they have a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge. He’s also asked families to create an emergency plan for their children in case their parents or guardians are detained by ICE.
“That helped our families understand: We do not have to go into panic mode, but we have to be proactive,” he said.
Pilsen high school principal says it’s OK to stay home
On the eve of Trump’s inauguration, the principal of Benito Juarez High School, where 46% of students were English learners last year, alerted families about potential deportation plans in Chicago. It’s OK, he said, to stay home.
“Please know that while our school is safe and that our students will be protected while they are in school, I also understand that there is a lot of fear and anxiety among our families,” Juan Carlos Ocon, the principal, wrote in a message on Jan. 19 obtained by Chalkbeat. “I will support your decision to send your students to school and I will support your decision to not send your children to school if you believe they are safer if they remain home.”
In a follow-up email the next day, Ocon told parents that all homework and projects would be available via Google Classroom. He attached a PowerPoint informing families of their rights and urged them to provide emergency contact information and create a phone tree “in case you have an encounter with ICE.”
Aimee Galban, a parent of a freshman at Juarez, said the emergency chat created by the school includes an alderman and allows families to discuss and verify things such as sightings of federal immigration enforcement.
“I think open conversations and communication is all that we have, because we can’t constantly live in fear,” Galban said.
CEO Martinez, who is an alumnus of Juarez, previously told Chalkbeat that the district won’t be implementing remote learning. CPS has sent multiple emails to families about the district’s policies on immigration, including reiterating that it doesn’t collect immigration information and will turn ICE away from schools in most instances.
A CPS spokesperson said Juarez is not providing remote instruction, and it’s normal to use Google Classroom to post assignments. Schools “collaborate with students individually” to address the reasons for their absences.
Juarez staff received a “Know Your Rights” training last Tuesday — a professional development day for teachers — about protections for immigrants and what to do if approached by immigration enforcement. Later that week, all Juarez students got a similar training, said Jonah Bondurant, a Juarez teacher who works with students with disabilities.
But there were signs of fear at the school when students were first back after a long weekend and Trump’s inauguration, he said. Attendance was just under 60% that Wednesday, and rose to just under 75% later in the week, Bondurant said. Other factors for low attendance could have been last week’s frigid temperatures and that it was a short week.
Kids who did show up displayed mixed emotions and different levels of understanding of immigration rights and fears, Bondurant said. Seniors, who might recall increased immigration fears during Trump’s first term in office, seemed more aware of the issue, he said.
“Some people are afraid. Some people are using humor, I would say, to kind of, you know, cope,” Bondurant said. “But they were very attentive to, you know, taking in the information about their rights.”
Charter network tries to alleviate stress for students
At the Noble charter school network, which operates a handful of schools with larger immigrant populations, principals and staff were provided with information on what to do if ICE shows up at their school doors.
Aidé Acosta, chief college officer for Noble, said some schools heard fears from students last week, which coincided with finals. As part of her role, Acosta works on scholarships for undocumented students and is helping lead the network’s response to immigration concerns.
School leaders decided they would provide accommodations for the exams for students dealing with immigration concerns “on a case by case basis,” Acosta said, who didn’t elaborate on what those accommodations were.
Acosta said she is also trying to combat misinformation, including false reports of immigration enforcement. The incident at Hamline — which Acosta believes was handled well by the Hamline staff — inadvertently caused people to spread more misinformation and fear, she said.
School leaders’ work “includes ensuring we’re sharing reliable information because our families and communities are in a lot of pain at this moment,” Acosta said.
Community group supports families, students
False or unverified reports of ICE showing up and misinformation online can make each day feel like a game of “Whack-A-Mole,” said Andrea Ortiz, director of organizing at Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, which provides wraparound services at Gunsaulus.
Ortiz said her organization has been providing Know Your Rights training for students at high schools they partner with on the Southwest Side. Students often ask questions only attorneys can answer, she said, such as what risks do people with Temporary Protected Status face. She shares websites and phone numbers for free or low-cost attorneys.
She said she wants students to “feel prepared and confident in exercising those rights.”
Ortiz said the organization’s clinicians, who work with schools directly, are also holding support groups for families. She recounted a story from a parent at one of their partner elementary schools who shared that one morning, while getting her children ready for school, they heard a knock at the door and feared it was immigration enforcement. It ended up being the sheriff’s office knocking on a door on the floor below, but the moment “was really triggering for them” and scared the kids, Ortiz said.
Brighton Park’s clinicians jumped in, offering extra support to the mother, and the organization shared information on what to do if ICE did come to their door, Ortiz said.
Correction 1/30/2025: A previous version of this story incorrectly described Principal Marlon Henriquez’s journey to the United States. Henriquez came to the United States in 1996 and later received Temporary Protected Status in 2001.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.
