Texas Warns Parents Over Immigration Raids on School Buses

The Alice Independent School District in South Texas warned parents on Wednesday that U.S. Border Patrol agents may board school buses to conduct immigration checks on students traveling for extracurricular activities, potentially resulting in detention or deportation.

Newsweek contacted Customs and Border Protection and the school district for further comment via email outside normal office hours.

Why It Matters

Under President Donald Trump’s newly inaugurated administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has gained the authority to conduct raids in “sensitive locations,” such as places of worship, schools and hospitals.

Critics say immigration raids sow fear in vulnerable communities and that they violate protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Issues including warrantless arrests, data collection without consent and detentions without probable cause could be deemed unconstitutional and may prompt legal battles.

Immigration was a key component of Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign. While Americans largely support the president’s mass deportation plans, they disagree about how the policies should be carried out. A poll by The New York Times and Ipsos from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.”

School Bus — Students arriving at Uvalde Elementary in Texas on September 6, 2022.

Eric Gay/AP

What To Know

Superintendent Anysia Trevino wrote in the letter: “We want to bring to your attention an important matter regarding student travel for extracurricular activities, including sports, band, and other co-curricular events. We have received information that U.S. Border Patrol agents may be boarding school buses at highway checkpoints in and out of the Valley to question students about their citizenship status.”

Trevino added that if a student lacks identification or documents proving legal status, “they may be removed from the bus, detained, and possibly deported.”

The letter also cautioned that lying about immigration status could jeopardize a student’s chances of obtaining U.S. citizenship in the future.

Under federal immigration law, falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen can result in disqualification from obtaining a green card or U.S. citizenship.

The letter said the school district was considering assigning a chaperone to travel in a separate vehicle to stay with any detained student while the rest of the group continued the trip.

The district has six schools and about 4,500 students, 92 percent of whom are Hispanic, according to the Texas Education Agency.

ICE’s Policy Change

In his first week in office, Trump overturned a policy restricting ICE operations near schools and other sensitive locations.

Two former ICE officials told Newsweek that they didn’t anticipate raids to be conducted at sensitive locations unless they involved serious criminals.

John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE field office director in Colorado, previously told Newsweek that the policy change did not specifically seek to increase operations in schools but rather to remove restrictions on ICE’s ability to operate in neighborhoods around sensitive locations.

“They didn’t get rid of it so they could go into schools and churches. They got rid of it so they could actually go into just a regular neighborhood,” he said.

On January 21, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said regarding the change, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”

The original policy, established in 2011 by then-ICE Director John Morton, required agents to seek prior approval before making arrests at sensitive locations. It remained in place during Trump’s first term and under Biden’s leadership, allowing ICE access only in cases involving national security threats, terrorism and dangerous criminals.

Schools across the country have been on edge amid the policy shift.

Oscar Silva—a 24-year-old from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, who now lives in Texas with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status—told Newsweek that his wife is a ninth grade teacher at a local high school. He said the thought of one of her students being forcibly removed from her classroom is “heartbreaking.”

During an immigration raid last week, a parent from the South Whidbey School District in Washington was taken into custody.

Jo Moccia, the district’s superintendent, confirmed that the detained individual was part of the school community. In a statement, Moccia expressed concern for the family, emphasizing that the parent “has become a victim of the immigration raids.”

Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut announced guidelines designed to protect students in the event of an attempted raid by ICE agents at any of its schools.

Interim school superintendent Royce Avery has reaffirmed that the school district’s immigration enforcement guidelines remain in place. Avery said that ICE agents and other government officials were prohibited from entering school buildings, boarding buses or attending school events without prior written approval from the superintendent.

What People Are Saying

Oscar Silva, a 24-year-old DACA recipient, told Newsweek: “Trump permitting ICE agents to make arrests within schools and houses of worship will raise ethical, social, and emotional questions that ripple far beyond the impact of any single arrest.

“My wife is currently a ninth grade school teacher at a local high school, dedicated to nurturing and supporting her students. The thought of one of them being forcibly removed from her classroom is heartbreaking. What would my wife tell the parents when their child does not come home?

“What could she say to her students as they watch their friend being dragged away in tears? Should she ask them to be quiet and go back to their textbooks? How would she be able to teach with the daily sight of an empty desk in the center of her classroom? How will she comfort the class the next time they hear a knock on the door?”

Tom Decker, a former ICE New York field office director, told Newsweek: “I think that policy was made up to appease some groups. Because it wasn’t like we were going into schools, churches, hospitals, and going to places after people. That wouldn’t be a priority place to go to pick somebody up or to go arrest somebody.”

A spokesperson for ICE told Newsweek on January 25: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not conducted any operations at schools or bus stops. Our enforcement efforts remain focused on public safety threats and those who have a final order of removal.”