Maryland education leaders are preparing for potential immigration raids in previously-protected spaces, including schools, under the new Trump administration.
The Maryland State Department of Education sent guidance to local school districts Thursday clarifying that student data is largely confidential under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and state code.
“Every child deserves access to a quality education, and it is our responsibility to uphold that right,” the letter, signed by State Superintendent Carey Wright, said. “To that end, it is crucial that we provide clear guidance on how to best support immigrant students in our schools.”
If an immigration officer shows up at a school, the guidance says, staff should immediately contact their local superintendent and school district attorney while cooperating with authorities.
Those practices are consistent with recommended protocol from the National Education Association, the country’s largest education union. Lubna Alam, the attorney who created NEA’s guide, said it’s important that educators don’t physically intervene.
“ICE agents are armed law enforcement officers,” Alam told WYPR. “Any physical obstruction when they are engaged in their job duties can negatively escalate the situation for everybody involved, and can make it more unsafe for the educator as well as the students in the school.”
She also said that immigration officers usually show up with “administrative warrants” that don’t allow student data to be shared without parental consent.
“It is only when a school is presented with a judicial warrant or court order signed by a judge that a school can release student information to those officers without parental consent or notification,” she said.
There are some key steps district leaders can take to proactively protect students, Alam said, like adopting their own local policies about interacting with immigration officials.
Alam also said school leaders should reach out to parents for updated emergency contact information.
“Something that we know can happen in the aftermath of a mass raid in a community is it'll be the end of the school day and a child's parents might not be there to come pick them up because they've been picked up by immigration officials,” Alam said.
Maryland’s guidance says parents can identify a “standby guardian” to care for their child if they are detained or deported through a state form. It also says parents should immediately be notified if an immigration official requests access to student information.
Alam urged leaders to allow parents to opt-out of putting their information in public school directories, and to host “know your rights” sessions for immigrant families.
