By Alfonso Sierra
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – As communities gear up for the new school year, families in Kern County and elsewhere across the Central Valley are also bracing themselves for continued raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Experts say the trauma will have lasting impacts on student learning, as lawmakers look for ways to protect school communities.
“It has been devastating for our youth,” said Roobie Richards, who directs the FFA (formerly known as Future Farmers of America) Program at Mira Monte High School in Bakersfield. “As educators, we know that our students cannot learn when even their basic needs are not being met, let alone something as traumatic as not knowing if there is a raid on their friends or family or even at school.”
She added, “Students have missed school, been reasonably distracted at school, and have felt more stressed during this time. It is real for them.”
Ninety-one percent of the 2,048 students enrolled at Mira Monte High School are Hispanic.
In January, immigration agents conducted a series of raids as part of what was called “Operation Return to Sender” in communities in Kern County. The raids resulted in dozens of arrests with agents targeting local businesses often frequented by immigrants and day laborers. Reporting shows that few if any of those detained had prior criminal records.
The ACLU won a major victory in April after it sued the Trump Administration on behalf of United Farm Workers and residents of Kern, arguing the arrests were motivated by racial profiling and violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
“The ACLU and the Rapid Response Network have been instrumental and commendable in their efforts to keep our communities safe, educated, and even in their legal battle to fight the inhumane and unlawful use of these raids against our friends and families,” said Richards.
One mother who asked to remain anonymous because she is undocumented said the raids traumatized her two sons, both of whom attend Highland High School in Bakersfield. “They asked us not to go to work for a few weeks afterward,” said the mother, between sobs. Both she and her husband work as farm laborers. “Instead of saying we weren’t going to school, they warned us not to go out to the agricultural fields where we work.”
Some 5 million children in California have at least one undocumented parent at home.
“What’s particularly troubling to me as a child psychologist is that the stress, anxiety, and trauma that develop in this climate of fear and uncertainty surrounding immigration enforcement can become chronic, leading to immediate and long-term damage to children’s mental and physical health,” explained child psychologist Allison Ratto during an August 28 virtual briefing organized by America’s Voice.
Ratto said the climate of fear and uncertainty is heightened by exposure on social media to ICE activities, where the images are vivid and graphic, the violent encounters with masked immigration agents leaving children feeling that “no one and nowhere is safe.”
In June, State Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano) introduced legislation—AB1348)—that would protect school funding in cases of rising absenteeism resulting from immigration enforcement. If approved, the bill would also give students the option to attend classes remotely when immigration raids are happening.
California is among a handful of states that ties school funding to attendance rates. One study out of Stanford found a twenty two percent drop in enrollment following the raids in Kern in January.
“On his first day in office, the president deliberately dismantled protections that kept immigration officials away from schools, churches, and hospitals,” noted Bains, pointing to an executive order signed in January removing Biden-era guidance preventing immigration agents from targeting churches, hospitals and schools. “We are seeing the highest amount of absenteeism among the youngest students, likely because they are the most vulnerable and too young to walk to school alone.”
Robert Meszaros, director of communications for the Kern County Office of the Superintendent of Schools, says his office has yet to see significant funding losses stemming from the ICE raids, though he acknowledged that “fear may be preventing some families from sending their children to school in some areas of the county.”
ICE agents are not allowed on school campuses without a warrant, while some school districts have policies in place to prevent the sharing of sensitive student and family information.
Meszaros stressed that “schools have policies and practices in place… and staff members know what to do in the event of an ICE raid.”
According to Bains, “The president is waging psychological warfare against all immigrants in the United States—people he claims are ‘poisoning the blood of our country.’ The president is attempting to remove immigrants from public spaces, and he’s using children to do it.”
