When Trump won … it was just like a big emotion of fear for my future,” said Julia, a Palo Alto High School senior whose name has been changed by Verde to protect her identity.
Julia’s reaction mirrors the feelings of many people across the country following the recent increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. ICE and Customs and Border Protection Agents made 113,000 arrests since Trump entered office, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. However, according to Newsweek, there are disputes over whether these numbers are accurate. These ICE arrests are part of Trump’s efforts to fulfill a long-term campaign promise, according to the ACLU.
In the interest of “protecting the American people against invasion,” he signed an executive order on Jan. 20 calling for multiple federal departments, including primarily the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to begin the widespread deportation of immigrants who have illegally crossed the border.
During Trump’s first term, he had an aggressive border and deportation policy, but this term has felt different for Paly junior Danny Khan.
“He said that he was going to do a mass deportation,” Khan said. “Honestly I didn’t really think about it much, but now that I’m seeing what’s going on and that he’s actually going through with it. I remember when he was elected in 2016 there was a lot of deportation stuff, but I didn’t think it would be this big.”
According to the Pew Research Center, the majority of undocumented immigrants come from Mexico. The threat of deportation and separation from their families, coupled with rumors of ICE activity — both true and untrue — has sparked fears among immigrant communities across the country.
California, and specifically the Bay Area, is known as a hub for communities of people who immigrated to the United States illegally. There are an estimated 2,739,000 undocumented people living in the state, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Increased ICE arrests have left undocumented people in California on edge. There have been confirmed incidents of ICE activity in some cities in the Bay Area such as San Jose. Despite widespread rumors, there have been no confirmed incidents of ICE activity in East Palo Alto, according to the Palo Alto Online. However, for some students at Paly, this doesn’t make the fear caused by rumors any less real.
“I live around [people] that are immigrants, in East Palo Alto, and I’ve heard that … [ICE] have actually gone over there,” said David, a Paly junior whose name has been changed to protect his identity.
One of the biggest fears caused by ICE activity is the threat of being separated from family. Even if someone is not at direct risk of being deported, the deportation of one person impacts everyone who knows them. This fear became a reality for Julia when her own relatives were deported in early February.
“ICE did a raid in San Jose, and my [relative] and her significant other were walking and suddenly, they saw this van pull up,” Julia said. “My mom told me that they just threw them into a van. All of a sudden, the identity they built here over the last 15 years was just gone. It didn’t matter.”
Julia said she was frightened to hear the news.
“That’s someone’s mom, that’s someone’s child, that’s someone’s friend,” Julia said. “I feel like the thought of just randomly disappearing without contact is one of the scariest things.”
ICE deportations can happen at any time, without notice to those who knew them. Julia explains the uncertainty she and her family experienced after her relatives’ disappearance.
“For a bit we thought she was missing, and we didn’t really know until she called us from Mexico and told us what had happened,” Julia said.
This disappearance reflects the troubles of families around the nation. For example, in New Mexico, 48 individuals have disappeared following ICE raids, according to NBC News.
The fear of ICE raids has caused dips in attendance for many school districts across the country, according to NBC News. However, according to Assistant Principal Michelle Steingart in an email to Verde, no dips in attendance have occurred at Palo Alto High School due to ICE raids.
Julia said that it has been challenging to discuss these issues with students who aren’t directly impacted and that she has experienced a lack of understanding from other students.
“At school … they’re not feeling that ‘what if’ situation as much as a Latino student might.” Julia said. “I think there are impacts where you’re surrounded by those conversations and you’re just thinking to yourself, ‘These people don’t have to worry about that.’ So hearing students be like, ‘Oh, thank God I don’t have to worry.’ It’s kind of gut-wrenching, in a way. So I definitely have had to tune people out.”
While impacted students have worried about ICE raids, the Palo Alto Unified School District has worked to create policy in response to the shift in White House deportation policy. In a message from Superintendent Don Austin to PAUSD on Feb. 7, he outlined the district’s protocol and priorities in response to fears over ICE raids. “PAUSD has been committed to the success of all students through the belief that every school site should be a safe and welcoming place for all students and their families, irrespective of their citizenship or immigration status,” Austin said.
Austin’s message announced that the district took action to train district staff, and conducted training with the office staff of each school site in order to teach protocol. This training consists of a slideshow presentation for Paly administrators.
Administrators are instructed to not allow immigration enforcement officers onto campus without a warrant signed by a judge, and will not release any confidential information without parental or guardian consent.
Educators still haven’t quelled the fears of some students on campus, who worry ICE arrests could impact them, their families or people they know. In a constantly changing situation, people are left with fear and uncertainty.
“Thankfully we haven’t had any problems when it comes to ICE,” Khan said. “But we don’t know if that can change.”
