Immigration reform appears to be near (or at) the top of the Trump administration’s policy agenda. Our Brookings colleagues, Tara Watson and Jonathon Zars, recently laid out the paths the incoming administration might take—and noted that they expect some “high-profile enforcement events to send a signal early in the administration.”The actions that the Trump administration takes, or threatens to take, could have implications for millions of U.S. students and thousands of U.S. schools. To learn more about what might lie ahead—and what education leaders can do—we reached out to three experts whose work touches on issues of immigration and education:

Here’s what they have to say:

Question 1: What are the potential effects of enhanced immigration enforcement on U.S. students?

Amalia Chamorro, Director, Education Policy Project, UnidosUS

Trump’s plans to step up immigration enforcement on a grand scale will harm millions of children of undocumented parents. Although 87% of the children of immigrants have U.S. citizenship, this makes no difference to the president-elect. Indeed, he has picked former ICE Director Tom Homan, who implemented the zero-tolerance family separation policy under Trump’s first term, as White House border czar. Homan recently said in a media interview that the new enforcement campaign will “seek to deport families together, even if they have young U.S.-born children, leaving it to those families to decide whether to exit together or be split up.” Forcing families to make such impossible decisions will cause deep and irreparable trauma for a generation of children.Fears of deportation are already leading some students to forgo filling out the FAFSA, jeopardizing their college dreams. As documented in an UnidosUS 2020 report, students who are fearful of being separated from a loved one are expected to learn in increasingly anti-immigrant climates, creating toxic, distracting environments that in turn harm all students. In this endgame, America will lose out on the promise and talent that these children have to offer the country they call home.

Sophia Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, NYU

My research with hundreds of immigrant families and youth across the country shows fear and uncertainty regarding Trump’s mass deportation plans and anti-immigrant rhetoric. This could impact millions of immigrant youth and children of immigrants, regardless of immigration status, including many from Latino communities. Public schools should be safe spaces under the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, which guarantees educational access for students regardless of immigration status. The Trump administration could try to undermine Plyler through enhanced immigration enforcement around schools and schoolyards, or by abolishing Obama and Biden administration moves to expand sensitive location policies to schools.This raises many concerns. One concern is that many families don’t know that schools are protected spaces or have a clear sense of their legal rights, and that might lead them to hide, not seek help or services, and/or not send their kids to school. Research also finds that deportation threats and family separation are associated with decreased academic performance and increased likelihood of dropping out. We have also started to learn about the potential long-term impacts of of heightened immigration enforcement, including its effects on college aspirations and enrollment. Beyond all of this, I worry about threats at school and the roles that local law enforcement might play in cooperating with ICE.

Rimga Viskanta, Board of Trustees, San Dieguito Union High School District

Anxiety and uncertainty permeated classrooms during Trump’s first administration due to immigration enforcement actions. During a classroom visit at that time, I saw a 6th grader crying, worried his parents would be deported while he was at school. His concerned classmates, unaware of his circumstances, tried to comfort him. I am worried we may see a similar pattern, but now students’ mental health is even more fragile, partly due to the pandemic’s lingering effects.Educators, already balancing academic and emotional demands, will face the added challenge of supporting students who may withdraw emotionally or avoid school out of fear that their families could face deportation actions while traveling to or from school. Administrators will need to navigate the complexities of federal immigration policies and their limits on school grounds.The threat of mass deportation affects more than undocumented students. During Trump’s first term, ICE officials monitored a predominantly Latino neighborhood in our district, intimidating U.S. citizens and legal residents alike. Stories emerged of parents who went to the store and never returned home, leaving children confused, scared, and unsupported. Such actions disrupt families and entire learning environments, fostering insecurity that undermines students’ ability to focus, connect, and thrive in school.

Read the full article about immigration enforcement and US schools by Amalia Chamorro, Sophia Rodriguez, and Rimga Viskanta at The Brookings Institution.