New school year marked by fear of anti-migrant raids

NEIGHBOURS, volunteers and parents escorted children to the first day of the new school year across Washington this week, vowing to protect students from Donald Trump’s deportation drive.

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At one elementary school in the US capital, crowds blew whistles, shook tambourines and cheered children on their way to class, ready to fend off any law enforcement action and to support a neighbourhood with a high Latino population.

Throughout the city, chaperone groups, carpools and patrols were organised over fears that immigration agents, who have stepped up arrests and sweeps, could target school campuses.

Resident Helena Bonde, 36, showed up at the elementary school in her wheelchair to support immigrant families who she says have been terrorised by raids, with some neighbours afraid to go to the grocery store.

“Nobody's trying to arrest a disabled white woman right now, so I just figured I'll be wherever I can be,” Bonde said.