In Chelsea, Massachusetts, a teachers union president says immigration enforcement has been more disruptive to learning than the COVID pandemic.
In one testimonial after another, teachers detailed all the ways President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has shaped their work and the lives of their students.
In a court filing Thursday, educators around the country described rumors of immigration raids that scared away students, immigrant parents who stopped sending their children to school altogether, and stories of parents and students — including one middle schooler — being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at school bus stops.
The stories were shared as part of a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration policy that opened up schools, houses of worship and medical facilities to immigration enforcement. The lawsuit was filed last year by an Oregon farmworkers union and a group of churches that argued the policy change was “arbitrary and capricious.” The American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and three preschool employees joined the suit in September.
As the impacts of immigration enforcement on schools and health care facilities grew, the plaintiffs filed a petition asking a judge to halt the Trump administra
