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Attendance was down dramatically Monday at several Detroit schools in Southwest Detroit as immigrants and allies banded together to protest Trump administration policies and send a message about their contributions to communities.
Monday was Day Without Immigrants, a demonstration recognized across the country that led businesses to close, students to skip school, workers to skip work, and people to refrain from shopping.
The demonstration happened at a time of great uncertainty for many communities as the Trump administration steps up immigration raids. Last month, Trump ended a long-standing practice of treating schools and child care centers as sensitive or protected locations. That has created fear that federal agents will show up inside schools and prompted district leaders to develop or reinforce policies that spell out what school staff are to do if they show up.
The attendance declines are an indication “we’re all mad and sad and there’s so many mixed emotions about all the stuff that is happening,” said Cindy Gamboa, a Detroit parent and member of 482Forward. “We’re using the power we have in our control. And that means we’re not going to hold back on not participating, so society understands the contributions our community makes.”
At Academy of the Americas at Logan, a dual language immersion program that serves lower elementary and preschool students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, just 7% of the students attended school Monday, Chrystal Wilson, spokeswoman for the district, said. The school enrolled about 500 students during the 2023-25 school year.
In a separate nearby building, just 18% of the students who attend Academy of the Americas in grades 4-12 showed up for classes. Enrollment is a little over 800 students.
Meanwhile, at Western International High School, which enrolls nearly 2,000 students, 32% of the students attended school.
All three buildings are located in Southwest Detroit, which has a large concentration of immigrant students.
“Schools in Southwest all had low student attendance, but all schools stayed open,” Wilson said.
Many of the schools were below the 75% threshold the state requires for a school day to count for state funding purposes. It’ll be clear until later in the school year whether the day will need to be made up at the schools that dropped below 75% attendance.
Gamboa, whose son attends Detroit Cristo Rey High School, said the private school also had a large number of students absent on Monday. Her son, a senior, was among those who recognized a Day Without Immigrants and skipped school. She has a younger daughter who attends a DPSCD elementary school that she said didn’t appear to have had a significant attendance drop.
“We have undocumented people in our family,” Gamboa said. “We know the terror that comes with having a target on your back. We’re in times when a lot of stuff just feels overwhelming and there’s not much we can do when it comes to Donald Trump and his hatred that he’s trying to target against our community. This is one thing we can do. They can’t take our voice. They can’t take our buying power.”
Heidi West, an English language arts and Spanish teacher at Academy of the Americas and an activist, didn’t go to work Monday to show solidarity with the families at the school, where Trump’s policies have created “fear, anxiety, confusion,” she said.
“It’s stressful. It’s hard to continue to teach in an environment when you know there’s a lot going on with students and their emotions. But we continue to teach. We continue to do what we have to do,” West said.
Across Michigan, schools that educate immigrant students are grappling with ensuring their students feel safe coming to school. Despite the Trump policies removing the protected status from schools, more than a few districts have made it clear that federal immigration agents are not welcome in their schools.
The Detroit district has had a policy in place since 2019 that bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Border Patrol agents from entering its schools without a judicial warrant. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said last week that the district would begin training key school staff this week on what to do if ICE agents show up. He also said that if parents are afraid to send their children to school in person, they can opt to enroll them in the district’s virtual school.
Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.
