“Nancy Duchesneau, a senior pre-K-to-12 research manager at the advocacy organization EdTrust, said it’s too early to tell if the country’s most recent immigration enforcement campaign — manifested in raids and surprise detentions after court appearances — has led to a drop in school attendance as it has in the past.

Duchesneau noted that ICE’s aggressive tactics disrupt learning and cause harm to a wide swath of students, not just immigrants or those with foreign-born parents.

When we see trauma happen to other kids, or to other people, we still have emotional impacts from that,” she said. “Seeing your friends taken away — kids that you know — even if you are an American citizen, we don’t know what else could happen.

Like Strom, she said schools should make sure there are clear policies in place for when ICE agents visit campus and that both students and staff know their rights.”

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