Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Have you seen the meme about expecting teachers to take a bullet for their students, yet stand back when those same kids are targeted by ICE? That one hit home for me, especially as I thought about the young people who sit in front of me on a daily basis or just walk by me in the halls. We’ve spent years thinking about the bullet, but this menace feels both more urgent and more real. The meme isn’t funny, but it is true.Schools in my community are already impacted by this—an elementary school near an international grocery store had students swept up when the store was raided. A local community college, which is a popular post-secondary educational option for many immigrant students, reported about 20 ICE vans parked near campus. When the fast food restaurant by a high school was raided, kids remained in the building, scared to pass the site and risk detainment or worse.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seal is seen.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seal is seen.
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images
While danger exists outside, the fear of it following inside is also a reality—the end of safe haven protections means that students are scared to come to school as well. Districts from Paterson, N.J. to Cincinnati, OH to Chicago, Ill. report that attendance is affected by students’ and parents’ fears of raids at school, or alternatively, fear of returning home to discover that family members were taken. The possibility is all too real.I teach at a school with a large immigrant population; so far, I’ve mostly overheard bits and pieces of conversation, kids talking about what they’ve heard from someone who knows someone. But there was a heartbreaking conversation with a boy who said that he worried about his safety, his family’s safety—actually, whether anywhere was safe.The colleagues I’ve spoken to, who teach across the country, are resolute in their commitment to keep “their kids” safe. Teachers care deeply about students’ well-being. We buy snacks and hygiene products; we stay after and work late without overtime; we try to build networks to catch those who are struggling. But we also wrestle with the idea of risking our own safety for the care of our students. We discuss exit strategies, best practices for lockdown, and how to disarm a shooter while minimizing risk. It’s an unfair ask, but there it is. Of course, the conversation has expanded to encompass what we can do in the event of a raid.Part of that stems from disparity in guidance—while some school districts are supplying “Know Your Rights” cards and proactively pointing students and staff toward protective resources, others provide vague directives, prohibit distribution of legal information, or state simply that they will comply fully with any action taken.Doubtless, some believe compliance is the correct course. But, notwithstanding that these are children, often Dreamers—born here and unaware of life anywhere else—forcible, legal removal from school implies wrongdoing. This has become clear through the raids already enacted—the only consistent “wrongdoing” is skin color. Furthermore, it seems that even natural-born Americans can be detained and even deported. We, as teachers, serve in the place of parents while children are in our care. How can it be wrong, then, for us to protect them from unfounded, biased harm?I wish that the specter of ICE didn’t exist, a waking nightmare for both students and educators alike. Barring that, I wish that schools could at least provide a safe haven where everyone is supported and welcome. Since I don’t get either of those wishes, however, my colleagues and I—the ones who believe our mandate is to both educate and protect—must find how we can continue to provide those two most essential, yet imperiled, functions.Madeleine Deliee is a writer and educator in the Washington, D.C., area. Her bylines include CNN, The Washington Post, Pacific Standard, and others. Follow her on Bluesky @mmdeliee.bsky.social.The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.