Introduction to the Issue
Maria says a prayer before making a trip to her child’s elementary school in West Dundee, a suburb about 40 miles northwest of Chicago. Though she’s now a U.S. Citizen, she feels vulnerable amid stepped up immigration enforcement actions in the Chicago area because she’s an immigrant from Mexico who spent some years as an undocumented resident. As a member of the Elgin Area Rapid Response team she helps monitor sightings of federal agents in the two suburbs, which neighbor each other. She’s seen them operate near schools, and videos of agents detaining people outside school buildings adds to her anxiety.
The Anxiety and Fear
“You just pray that you’re not caught at the wrong time or at the wrong place,” said Maria, who asked that her last name be withheld because her community is small and is fearful of being singled out. “I wouldn’t want my children to witness that.” In January, President Trump rescinded a Biden-era policy that protected schools from immigration enforcement actions. Though there haven’t been reported instances of people being detained inside schools and many prohibit agents from entering without a criminal judicial warrant, actions nearby have elicited fear in suburban communities. Schools have been placed on lockdown. People have been arrested on the way to school or back home. And last week federal agents fatally shot Mexican immigrant Silverio Villegas González not long after he dropped off his sons at school in northwest suburban Franklin Park, heightening tensions.
A couple comfort one another at a vigil for Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez located at West Grand Avenue and Emerson Street in suburban Franklin Park, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed by ICE officers during a traffic stop on Sept. 12. Tyler Pasciak Lariviere / Sun-Times
Concerns of Parents and Education Leaders
Maria, other parents and education leaders think federal agents shouldn’t be allowed to operate within a certain perimeter around schools. They say that will protect children who may be distracted by what they see on the street. They urge schools and districts to share know-your-rights materials to help families prepare. While many districts are doing this some are lagging behind, according to parents and educators.
Immigrant Enforcement Near Schools
Three schools in Franklin Park went into lockdown when Villegas Gonzalez was killed last week, including Passow Elementary — where one of his children was a student — and Hester Junior High School, both just a couple of blocks from the scene. His younger son attended a daycare center just down the street. Some parents denounced federal agents for initiating the traffic stop that led to the incident so close to children. “I think it was wrong to do it in front of schools,” said Francisco Arroyo, parent of students at Passow and Hester. “Kids could have been out here at recess and seen it.” The next school day students at the junior high were on high alert for vehicles that might be transporting federal agents, according to parents.
A crossing guard ushers students across the street as they head to Rosa Parks Middle School in Dixmoor on Monday. A Facebook video showed federal immigration agents operating as children went to school.
In south suburban Dixmoor Monday morning, agents wearing tactical gear and masks were seen detaining someone during a traffic stop just outside Rosa Parks Middle School. Video of the encounter shows what appears to be students walking to school as the stop unfolded. District 147 officials said the agents did not attempt to enter the school and the individual detained was not a parent of students. Also on Monday West Chicago Elementary School District 33 went under a “secure and teach” soft lockdown after more than a dozen people were taken into custody by federal immigration agents in the far west suburb. Arrests were reported near a school, an apartment building and a grocery store.
Response from Education and Community Leaders
Illinois Education Association president Al Llorens said the union stands against ICE raids in or near schools. “When schools are surrounded by fear, students cannot learn, teachers cannot teach and communities cannot thrive,” Llorens said in a statement. Jesse Tanner, pastor at First Congregational Church of Elgin, is also a member of the rapid response team in the area. He and other observers have spotted armed agents in vests parked either a block away from schools or across the street during pickup and drop off times on several occasions over the last two weeks, Tanner said. He wonders whether that’s a deliberate tactic.
Statement from the Department of Homeland Security
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, says ICE officers do not raid or target schools and said those allegations are an attempt to create “a climate of fear.” Elgin saw its own aggressive raid at a home Tuesday morning. A U.S. citizen was among six people who were detained. Tanner said the episode ratcheted up anxiety in the community. He’s worried about what effect it’s having on his children, who go to school in the area. “Any time my child is in the proximity of that kind of thing it makes me nervous,” Tanner said. He would also like to prohibit ICE agents from enforcement actions near schools but wasn’t optimistic that would happen. “Unless they’re forced
