Bay Area Teachers See More Absences Due to Deportation Fears
This article candidly discusses the fear of deportation affecting our community. If you find yourself in distress or need mental health resources, please visit Immigrants Rising.
It’s hard to show up to work or school when you’re afraid. For adults, a job might not feel safe anymore, but they’ve still got to put food on the table. For students with fewer rights and control over their lives, attending classes or getting dropped off by parents can feel like a big risk. Teachers are noticing the fear has ballooned since Trump’s inauguration.
Not At School
Patrick Kelly, a social studies teacher at South San Francisco High School, says, “We do not know who is undocumented. We are told not to inquire, that there are specific school resource officers who act as liaisons for those families and there are specific protocols for if ICE agents visit our school or catch any families/students in sweeps.” And yet, in the weeks since Trump’s inauguration Kelly has noticed around 10% of his students have simply stopped showing up.
“There are rumors why – they moved, they are in hiding, they are sick – but sometimes I know directly what the truth is and don’t share it for obvious reasons,” Kelly explains. He’s spent nearly a decade building relationships not just with his students but with their extended families. “Along the way, I often learn about their nationalities and/or immigration status. I never use this information against them or I never let anyone else know,” the teacher clarifies. “I normally use it to help with immigration questions or financial aid forms.”
Today’s Climate
Under the Trump administration, ICE has kicked into a higher, screeching gear. The threat looms over well-woven Bay Area communities, cruelly plucking apart the knots and ties we’ve made together.
It doesn’t help that terrorist assholes are capitalizing on the moment by walking around impersonating ICE. And there are rumors of disgusting little freaks threatening to call immigration authorities. And some civil rights watchdogs worry that pro-cop San Francisco is salivating at the opportunity to further increase suffering on our streets by expediting jail processing. There’s a concern that local resources could be leveraged by the federal administration to conduct mass deportations if we’re not careful.
As a social studies teacher, Kelly regularly needs to discuss current events in his classroom. “I try very hard not to be reactionary – to wait for the news, to process it, to decipher truth from rumor – but to be informative,” he says. When he discusses a recent decision by the administration or Congress, the news is met with shock, disappointment, anger, and sadness. He finds himself needing to console students by talking through their specific concerns. “These are not snowflakes… They are resilient kids who have grown up in a blue community who are feeling it in a very real way.”
The Pain and Fear of Deportation
Deportation cascades through a child’s heart in innumerous ways. When a loved one is deported or voluntarily removed, that child is at risk of developing suicidal ideation, crippling anxiety, eating disorders, aggression, social isolation, and more. These are ways the fear seeps out, no matter how it’s bottled up.
“There is a pain so deep it feels like your heart and stomach are being wringed out like a wet towel, over and over again when a parent is forced to leave their family behind,” scholar Shantay Rhea Rocha writes about her own experience. “Imagine you are watching your father being taken away in handcuffs after you unknowingly answer the door to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he stands there with his life savings and pride spilling from his pockets, apologizing over and over again to you about how sorry he is that this is happening.” Rocha’s father was deported under the Obama administration.
How is This Any Different Than Biden’s Administration?
Immigrants have always been marginalized and treated differently, especially dependent on their documentation status, but with the Trump administration threatening birthright citizenship and villainizing documented immigration alike it’s taken a different tone. Some argue that it was just as bad under Biden or Obama, but advocates have made it clear that it is objectively worse for immigrants right now because of Trump’s lack of discipline and good judgment in decision-making and hiring. Anti-immigration task forces are using extreme tactics now more than ever, including attempts to monitor online comments about how terrible ICE is acting.
Adults, too, face risks, even if they are documented. Deportations can gash a family apart, flinging people far from the loving arms of sisters, spouses, or parents. It can create health risks; it’s easy to brush off mental health because it is invisible but you can quite literally die of a broken heart.
Immigration doesn’t exist far off in another room or another neighborhood; the people you work with, the person next to you on the bus, the children on the list of Valentines to make for your kid’s classroom – any of these people might be living with an intense, indescribable fear.
What Can We Do?
Well-intended liberals might list off all the ways immigrants help our community, focusing on the economic impact of working folks. But a laundry list of professions like food packing, vegetable picking, or working in restaurants misses one thing. They’re not just deporting custodians or farm workers. They’re deporting people. They’re intimidating our neighbors. They’re making our markets and schools empty by terrorizing the community with impunity.
If all this talk of fear has you itching to do something, you can get involved by handing out red Know Your Rights (KYR) cards. Tell your district supervisor where you stand and encourage them to vote with more restraint on heated topics rather than reducing oversight to solve longstanding challenges on our streets. Get some training on de-escalation techniques. If you are protesting, protect yourself by visiting the National Lawyers Guild.
Take Care With Information
Fear can also be spread unnecessarily. It is important to call out bad behavior, but the immigrant community has directly asked folks to please not stoke fear by reposting unverified sightings of ICE. If you suspect ICE activity in San Francisco, you can call 415-200-1548 and report it to the resource center, who will then trigger a wave of important responses. They send lawyers down to make sure anyone swept has access to legal counsel, they work with those left behind to make sure they’re fed and taken care of, and they keep careful track of activity.
It is a hard time for everyone, but especially for immigrant families with school-aged children. Take the time to comfort people who are worried about deportation and sweeps.
Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
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