Coalition pushes for ICE entrance policy passage in metro Atlanta schools

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Evolving ICE guidelines under the Trump administration leave critics, including some Georgia parents and students, worried about agents’ operations. In January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded the Biden administration-era “protected areas” guidelines, which declared several locations, including schools, areas in which ICE enforcement actions should be avoided “to the fullest extent possible.”

“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murders (sic) and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the department said in a statement at the time.

In January, students held protests at the University of Georgia, Emory, Georgia State and Kennesaw State universities against ICE, based in part on concerns that agents might conduct raids on their campuses. Around that time, high school students across metro Atlanta organized walkouts to demonstrate against Trump administration immigration policies, chanting “G! O! ICE has got to go!”

APS amendment discussions

Stern said the coalition has reached out to APS about enacting the policy, but initially “didn’t really get any responses, which was disappointing.” She addressed the board at the monthly meeting on Aug. 10.

“It was hard to get impacted families into this room, because a rumor spread that ICE might be sitting in this audience, and they’re not. That is the climate your students are living in,” she said.

APS updated Regulation KM-R(1) on Aug. 7, which establishes policy for addressing school visitors and includes law enforcement as visitors. It reads that representatives of external agencies will be requested to provide “any relevant documentation authorizing access, such as a court order, subpoena, or judicial warrant” and now specifies that “administrative agency warrants, detainers, requests, notices, or orders do not satisfy this requirement.”

While Stern acknowledges the change, she still feels the wording is inadequate: it should “require,” not “request,” and still doesn’t require legal review of documents before granting access, leaving the determination of a representative’s right to access to school staff, according to Stern.

The coalition asks that documents be forwarded to and reviewed by the Office of Legal Affairs before access is granted, with a limited exception only for an immediate, documented threat to health or safety. They are in discussion with APS board members about further amendments.

“Please finish what you started, so these families can trust their schools again,” Stern said at the meeting.

Tammy Brazzelle, an APS parent, shared the story of her daughter, a sixth grader of white and Puerto Rican descent, who had intense nightmares of ICE agents killing her father and other relatives last school year. She feared that ICE could racially profile her family members for being Latino. The nightmares caused weeks of sleep deprivation, and she said her daughter’s school attendance suffered greatly as a result.

“I’m asking you to please consider the levels of fear, and how this can severely impact students … and how that can impact their education,” Brazzelle said at the board meeting.

Standing law

As federal law stands, ICE officials can access public areas of a school such as parking lots and lobbies but cannot legally enter private areas of a school without a judicial warrant.

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

While the Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and mandates a warrant with select exceptions, advocates like Stern maintain that school protection through the Fourth Amendment is inferred, not explicitly stated by law, and therefore should be stated clearly by school policy. She also worries about school administrators being properly prepared for federal agents.

Stern pointed to some districts that have informal protocols, sending one-off emails with “what to do if” instructions, but Stern argues that this isn’t sufficient.

“When something is not a policy, there’s no resources that go along with it … if it’s not a formal policy, it’s like it doesn’t exist,” she said.

‘He was afraid’

Stern has been advocating for the Safe Space to Learn policy’s passage in DeKalb since December. It was scheduled to receive a first read at the district board meeting on July 13 but was postponed to the Aug. 10 meeting, and is scheduled to be voted on in September. Parents, students and teachers spoke up in the July meeting in support of the policy’s urgency.

“There have been countless incidents where interactions with ICE turn deadly, and countless reports of people dying in detention camps. While these are things I haven’t experienced personally, what I have experienced is low attendance from fearful students, expressed frustrations from parents, and families scared of being separated despite simply trying to get an education to better their lives,” said Pahla Smith, a teacher at Sequoyah Middle School. “We must be proactive stewards of our students’ safety, ensuring their peace of mind.”

Yolanda Lopes, a DeKalb County mother originally from Mexico, spoke in Spanish about her son seeing detained children on television and the impact this had on both of them.

“He was afraid, and that broke my heart. I didn’t know what to tell him. Unfortunately, we are living this reality — this is why I’m here as a mother. I’m here to tell the school board members to please take action and pass the policy …” Lopes said.