Have K-12 Schools Become Incubators of Anti-ICE Extremism?

As Democrat candidates and elected officials increasingly embrace the “Defund ICE” mantra, activist-minded teachers’ unions, educators, and administrators appear to be quietly weaponizing the education system as a tool of “resistance” against immigration enforcement. Along with brainwashing students into embracing the left’s anti-law enforcement extremism, some taxpayer-funded public schools are declaring themselves mini “sanctuary cities” and claiming that federal authorities have no jurisdiction there.

In one shocking recent development, the Ohio Education Association (OEA), the largest teachers’ union in the state, implicitly encouraged state and local leaders – presumably including education officials – to defy federal law and oppose allowing immigration authorities access to schools. In a press release, OEA President Jeff Wensing stated that his union “strongly opposes any presence or enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in or around Ohio’s public schools.”

“Schools must remain safe, welcoming spaces where every student—regardless of immigration status—can learn, grow, and thrive without fear,” he continued. “We urge federal, state and local leaders to uphold policies that keep immigration enforcement out of schools and to reaffirm that schools are places of learning—not fear.”

Wensing’s statement is hardly an isolated incident. Teachers’ unions and individual faculty members throughout the country have also set out to undermine immigration enforcement.

The National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers’ union in the nation, released a webpage titled “Guidance on Immigration Issues” encouraging educators across the U.S. to engage in political activism against ICE as well as create “Safe Zone” resolutions to prevent ICE from carrying out their duties on school property. The NEA and the American Federation of Teachers have even joined Oregon preschools in a lawsuit (PCUN v. Noem) against a Trump administration executive order allowing for ICE enforcement on school grounds.

In Democrat-run cities like Chicago and San Diego, individual teachers have gotten involved by patrolling their schools, blowing whistles at ICE agents, and escorting families to and from school. California teacher and social media influencer Christian Shearhod has posted content instructing parents and students how to “avoid ICE.”

In some cases, these acts of resistance have escalated to the point of threats and physical violence. In one instance, a teacher from Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis assaulted ICE agents after they engaged in a five-mile pursuit of an individual who used his car to ram an ICE vehicle. In another case, a teacher at a high school in Los Angeles openly threatened ICE agents, saying, “they’re not the only ones with guns.”

The hate and vitriol directed at ICE agents has extended to students as well, with plenty of encouragement from teachers and administrators. In Rochester, Michigan, one district superintendent sent an email to parents explicitly endorsing a student walkout protesting ICE. At another high school in Kansas, the administration allegedly advertised a walkout and assured students that they would face no disciplinary consequences for leaving the building – a glaring safety violation. In Minnesota, students even reportedly received training from left-wing activists on how to stage a walkout.

While Democrats and their corporate media allies have alleged that ICE agents are “terrorizing” schools, the reality is that immigration authorities are not raiding or targeting education centers. “ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at, or ‘raiding,’ schools,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “ICE is not going to schools to make arrests of children. Criminals are no longer able to hide in America’s schools to avoid arrest.”

“The media is sadly attempting to create a climate of fear and smear law enforcement,” McLaughlin continued. “These smears are contributing to our ICE law enforcement officers facing a 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them.”

Far from harming schools and children, ICE enforcement actions stand to massively benefit the American education system.

When illegal immigration reached an all-time high under the Biden administration, Democrats were literally forcing children out of schools across the nation to create room for housing illegal aliens. In 2023, news that New York City would begin converting public school gyms into migrant shelters ignited severe backlash in even this deep-blue enclave.

Illegal immigration also places an enormous financial strain on the education system, which Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates is around $70 billion annually. Additionally, K-12 teachers have had to manage enormous class sizes in order to accommodate the influx of new students. In Texas, some teachers have been forced to teach from hallways and conference rooms in order to instruct as many as 400 students, while also dealing with the challenge that many of these children know little or no English, hampering their ability to offer proper instruction to students.

The fact that teachers’ unions and some education professionals have decided to abandon their responsibility to students in order to engage in left-wing activism to protect illegal aliens from deportation only further underscores the crisis facing the American education system. If public schools are being used to obstruct federal law enforcement and indoctrinate children with radical political ideology, then parents and taxpayers have a right and a responsibility to demand accountability.

Education exists to teach math, reading, and civics – not to serve as a shield for lawlessness or a training ground for anti-ICE extremism.

Hunter Oswald is a Research Fellow for The American Spectator. He is an alum of Grove City College, where he graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in Political Science. You can follow him on X @HunterOswald8.