Coalition pushes for ICE entrance policy passage in metro Atlanta schools

Amid the start of a new school year and reports of more ICE arrests in Georgia, some community groups are advocating for rules in a few metro Atlanta school districts that would make it tougher for the federal agents to remove a student from a public school.

Jessica Stern, an immigration attorney, parent and policy lead for the Safe Space to Learn Coalition, has been advocating for policies that would require a judicial warrant or court order for agents to enter private areas of a school (such as a classroom or administrative office), question a student or remove them from campus. It would also require district legal review before access is granted and reaffirms protection of student records under FERPA, the federal student privacy act.

Stern said the coalition includes seven core organizations, including the Association of Raza Educators and We Are Casa, as well as 16 supporting organizations, such as the Southern Center for Human Rights and ACLU of Georgia. The coalition has advocated for this policy in Atlanta Public Schools, the DeKalb County School District and City Schools of Decatur. It plans to expand its efforts to other districts.

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 In January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded the Biden administration-era “protected areas” guidelines, which declared several locations, including schools, areas in which ICE enforcement actions should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.

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.

Read the rest at ajc.com!