If ICE Comes To School: MI Issues Guidance For Teachers, Staff

MICHIGAN — As President Donald Trump has promised an immigration crackdown that could affect hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents, officials are sharing ways that schools can keep immigrant students and families safe.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals, ending a policy that had been in effect since 2011.

In a Jan. 16 sent a memo, Michigan education officials provided guidance on their legal responsibility to provide public education to students regardless of their immigration status.

"All students have a right to a free public education regardless of their citizenship, immigration status, race or national origin," the memo read. "As educators, we have a responsibility to protect that right."

Michigan education officials also encouraged district leaders to set up a legal team to seek advice if immigration officers approach staff for access to students or their records.

"School staff, like students, should be able to focus on teaching and learning and not have to navigate thorny legal issues that could harm children’s right and ability to access a free public education," Michigan education officials said in an updated guidance Thursday.

Tuesday’s move to clear the way for arrests at schools reverses guidance that restricted two federal agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out enforcement in sensitive locations.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said: "Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest."

An estimated 733,000 school-aged children are in the U.S. illegally, including 5,000 in Michigan, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Many more have U.S. citizenship but have parents who are in the country illegally.

RELATED — MI Sues Trump Over Ending Birthright Citizenship