Schools on high alert as fear of deportation ramps up

As immigration officers moved in on Chicago following Donald Trump's inauguration, carrying out the president's plans for "mass deportations", the city's schools began to notice waves of absences.

- Maanvi Singh CHICAGO

Parents were picking up kids early, or parking a few blocks away - fearful immigration raids would target the pickup rush. In a city that has received thousands of new immigrant students in recent years, teachers made house calls to check in on families that were terrified of leaving home. At afterschool programs for high schoolers, educators passed out "know your rights" information for students to give to their undocumented parents.

As the Trump administration moves forward with its immigration agenda, rescinding longstanding protections against immigration raids on school campuses and deploying federal agents into residential neighbourhoods, educators across the US are scrambling to maintain safe spaces for students to learn.

"Children have the capacity to learn algebra only if they have a supportive environment," said Alejandra Vázquez Baur, co-founder and director of the National Newcomer Network, a coalition of educators and researchers working to support immigrant children and families. "And so every teacher is already an advocate."