Students, parents express anxiety over potential ICE arrests in Kensington

This story was written by Colin Evans. Reporting by Sydney Krider, Onalisa Mitchell, Stacy Landrum, Chris Shaddock, Tahera Rahmani, Sebastiana Lopez, Tazwar Shahnawaz, Caroline Keane, and Colette Kearney from Temple University’s Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting.

Editor’s Note: Due to the sensitivity of this subject, some names have been withheld to protect individuals’ safety.

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The looming fear of mass deportations has fueled unease among Kensington parents and students who worry that schools in the predominantly Latino neighborhood could be targeted.

President Donald Trump’s reversal of a longstanding policy that treated schools as “protected” locations where immigration enforcement should rarely take place has stoked fear among students and educators. Since then, the School District of Philadelphia has refuted rumors that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were spotted near schools — including one in Kensington.

“I am a product of immigrants, I went to school here,” said Shawn Black, a parent at John H. Webster Elementary School. “Now I am 44 years old and I do not know what to say.””

So far, there are no confirmed incidents of ICE entering schools to conduct immigration enforcement since Trump’s inauguration. However, students said they have received no information from their school about what to do if ICE does show up. One student had a clear opinion about what schools should not do.

“Don’t open them doors, y’all. Don’t open them doors,” a ninth grader at Mastbaum High School told a reporter last month.

About 12% of Kensington’s residents are foreign born, compared to nearly 15% of the city at large, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Ninety-three percent of residents are U.S. citizens. Approximately 72% are Latino. The vast majority of the Latino population in Kensington is Puerto Rican, and Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

Due to Philadelphia’s decision to be a sanctuary city, the Philadelphia Police Department does not collaborate with ICE by sharing information, arresting, or detaining undocumented immigrants.

But schools have not been immune from federal immigration enforcement. For example, ICE agents arrested a mother outside of Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary in South Philadelphia in 2020 after she dropped her child off at school.

Should ICE come to a school, the district’s official policy instructs staff to immediately contact the district’s general counsel, obtain necessary documentation from agents, and “await further direction.”

“DO NOT Provide any information about students, families or staff unless directed by the Office of General Counsel,” district protocol states.

Superintendent Tony Watlington said the district has prepared school leaders to comply with the law while also protecting the rights of immigrant students.

“We are not going to gin up extra levels of anxiety. [We are going to approach the issue] in a very professional and strategic and appropriate manner,” Watlington said.

Fear about ICE arrests rises in Kensington

Reports of ICE raids across the country — including a false alarm at a Chicago public school — and the arrest of seven migrants at a car wash in nearby Juniata Park have added to fears in Kensington.

Theresa Heinsinger, a crossing guard at John H. Webster Elementary School, said that although she hasn’t seen ICE agents in the neighborhood, she still worries for the children.

“Children have a tough struggle everyday,” she said. “It is a struggle for all the kids everyday. And for them to be subjected to this new policy — I really do think that children should be left out of it. Because they are innocent people here, and they need a voice.”

In a joint statement, Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, state Sen. Christine Tartaglione, and state Rep. Jose Giral, whose districts all include Juniata Park and Kensington, said their offices were not given advance notice of the Juniata Park raid and called it “an unwarranted and unnecessary disruption of our community.”

“As leaders and elected representatives of this community we are outraged by the abhorrent action taken by ICE and saddened to see these residents taken away from their families and the community they have been part of and have made valuable contributions to for years,” they wrote in the statement.

ICE can enter schools using certain warrants

Whether ICE can enter schools or obtain information about students depends on what kind of authorization agents have.

The two main types of warrants ICE uses for arrests are administrative warrants and judicial warrants. ICE typically relies on administrative warrants, which are signed by immigration officers.

The distinction is important since administrative warrants do not allow ICE agents to search or enter private property, according to the National Immigration Law Center.

That means an agent must have either a judicial warrant or permission from school officials to enter areas not open to the general public. District policy states that school personnel cannot allow agents to enter nonpublic areas of the school or conduct searches unless there are “exigent circumstances,” such as an imminent risk of violence.

Principals and district staff must obtain copies of an agent’s subpoena or warrant and immediately send them to the district’s lawyers, according to the policy. The district “will not share information or provide access to our students unless required by law and will do everything in the District’s lawful power to protect the constitutional and legal rights of students and parents,” the policy says.

The district has an immigrant and refugee toolkit for staff and is providing professional development for teachers, administrators, and other school personnel about how to respond to ICE agents, Nathalie Nérée, the district’s chief of special education and diverse learners, told the City Council last week.

However, many educators and school leaders say they would welcome more training and preparation.

In 2022, a school principal allegedly threatened to have a student and his family deported. The district later settled a legal case regarding the incident and promised to provide more staff training. The principal, Charlotte Buonassisi, denied the allegations and resumed working for the district in another school.

Webster Elementary parent Cheyenne Duffy said the renewed emphasis on mass deportation is unfair.

“I’m sure it’s hard enough to get over here the right way and trying to get back into a country that doesn’t want you is even harder,” Duffy said. “I just think it’s kind of messed up. … If anything just try to give these people resources, help, and honestly just somewhere safe to stay.”

This story is a part of Every Voice, Every Vote, a collaborative project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The William Penn Foundation provides lead support for Every Voice, Every Vote in 2024 and 2025 with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Comcast NBC Universal, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Henry L. Kimelman Family Foundation, Judy and Peter Leone, Arctos Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, 25th Century Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, and Philadelphia Health Partnership. To learn more about the project and view a full list of supporters,visit www.everyvoice-everyvote.org. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.