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The 9-year-old stood just feet away with her mom and baby brother, crying and slamming her fist against the wall, as federal immigration agents seized her father earlier this month after a routine court hearing in Manhattan.
In the days that followed, the fourth grader from Venezuela was too bereft to return to school.
“I told her to get up to go to school, and she would tell me, ‘Mami, I feel very tired,’” said the girl’s mom, who asked not to use their names for fear of being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The girl, who receives medical treatment for epilepsy, broke down in tears so frequently her mom fears it triggered her seizures.
But there was one bright spot amid the grief: Their tight-knit public school in the West Village showered the family with support. (Chalkbeat isn’t naming the school at the family’s request.)
The principal offered to meet the girl at the homeless shelter where they were living and escort her to school. A teacher called and told the girl that her classmates were eager to see her. Fellow parents connected the family to lawyers and advocates.
“There’s been so much support from the school, giving us the encouragement to return to school, making sure my daughter is calmer, and me and my baby too,” the mom said in Spanish. “It’s a school that is very present with us with everything happening.”
It’s difficult to know how many parents of public school students in New York City have been swept up in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. ICE data collected by the Deportation Data Project doesn’t track whether detained immigrants have children.
But as immigration arrests have surged, so have images of parents pulled away from their children — often through screams and tears — by masked agents in the hallways of Manhattan’s immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza.
Now, educators and advocates say a growing number of schools have found themselves acting as lifelines for students who had one or both parents detained by ICE, stepping in to help them navigate the loss of a caregiver, keep their education on track, and process their grief.
The arrests can send shockwaves through school communities, too, administrators said.
At Central Park East II, a Manhattan middle and high school, the recent arrest of a parent of two current students deeply shook staffers, said Principal Naomi Smith.
“It’s really hard,” she said. “Anyone who knew her or had her kids, we were upset.”
Schools’ support ranges from meeting basic needs to grief counseling
For families where a parent faces ICE detention, the first and most pressing question is often who will take care of the kids, said Julie Babayeva, a supervising attorney for the New York Legal Assistance Group.
“A fear for parents of young children is they won’t know who will pick the child up from school that day,” Babayeva said.
Under New York law, immigrant families can designate a “standby guardian” to care for their children in case they’re arrested or deported. Those guardians can make decisions about a student’s education — helping ensure they remain in school after the parent is detained.
But many families still don’t know about the law, Babayeva said, and some city schools are trying to spread the word.
Several schools have worked with Babayeva to offer workshops that help immigrant families designate standby guardians. In one case, Babayeva got a call on a hotline she operates from a local public school parent who is a U.S. citizen and wanted to offer himself up as a guardian for immigrant children at his kids’ school.
Schools have also stepped in to provide material support after a parent is detained.
At Central Park East II, staff and families gathered donations to ensure the mother detained by ICE had money to make phone calls from her detention center. They’re also filling a bag with clothes and supplies so the mom has some with her if she’s deported, Smith said.
At ELLIS Preparatory Academy, a Bronx high school for newly arrived immigrants, a student lost her main source of child care for her own toddler when her mother was arrested by ICE in June. The school’s principal, Norma Vega, offered to care for the toddler in her office so the girl could attend summer school. (The student didn’t take her up on it.)
Dominique Ellison, a spokesperson for the city Education Department, said if the city is notified of a parent’s arrest and gets permission from the family, officials will contact organizations that can offer legal assistance.
Educators said they work hard to help students whose parents were detained cope with the emotional fallout — giving them extra time with counselors and social workers. But that can be challenging when the situation is so fresh and the threats of immigration enforcement are ever-present.
“We talk about … helping support people in trauma,” said Jessica Chock-Goldman, a Manhattan school social worker who has counseled students with parents in ICE detention. “But in this current climate, it’s helping people with basic needs. They’re currently in a state of trauma. They’re still experiencing it. You can’t process something you’re currently experiencing.”
Still, Chock-Goldman said she’s been “astounded” by the resilience of students and family members living in “pervasive fear.”
For the 9-year-old Venezuelan student in Manhattan, the school’s gentle persistence helped. She came back eight days after her father was detained. And although it’s still painful retracing the walk to school she used to do with her dad, being back in school has lifted the fourth grader’s spirits, her mom said.
In other cases, though, schools’ efforts have come up short.
At a Manhattan high school where a teen’s parent was detained by ICE last school year, staffers tried to stay in touch, said the principal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But the student had no adult guardians left in the country and soon lost contact with the school, the principal said.
This school year, the student never showed up.
Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael atmelsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.
