SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, Fla. — With immigration at the forefront of the Trump Administration, Fox 4 has been getting the question, "can ICE go into schools?" Yes, they can, but there are certain guidelines to do that.
Let's start at the federal level. Immigration attorney Indera DeMine says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can remove a child from a school.
Watch Senior Reporter Kaitlin Knapp explain the criteria:
"ICE raids should be targeted towards undocumented immigrants with outstanding orders of removal, with a warrant for their arrest, and that could be a child who has an outstanding order for removal," she explained.
She says a child can have a warrant for many reasons:
1. The child committed a crime.
2. If they came over the border as an unaccompanied minor and didn't go to court for it, they can be ordered deported for not showing up.
3. Asylum was denied and they're ordered deported.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are around 733,000 school-aged children in the U.S. illegally.
Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed ICE in schools while in Fort Myers on Wednesday. A reporter asked if they could go into schools in Florida. He said yes, agents can.
"There's not bar in the state of Florida for conducting immigration enforcement operations," he said.
We reached out to all Southwest Florida school districts.
In a statement to families and staff, Lee County said:
Dear SDLC Families and Staff,
Recently, new executive orders have been issued. It is essential to understand that the School District of Lee County must follow the law. The law states that students are entitled to education regardless of their immigration status. The school district will comply with properly served judicial orders or lawfully served warrants.
Thank you for your partnership and understanding.
This is where it gets tricky. The school districts that responded told FOX 4 they do not ask for immigration status of students. However, DeMine said districts also have to comply with the law, and with federal agents carrying warrants.
"The school district is really in a bind," she said.
Collier County Public Schools said:
By law, school districts must provide the best possible education for all students who attend our schools, while also ensuring they have access to a safe and positive learning environment. We will continue to uphold this important mission as we move forward, while reviewing the issues involved on a case-by-case basis in consultation with our Legal Department. The District does not collect information pertaining to students’ or families’ immigration status. The District follows U.S. Supreme Court and related Federal law on the subject, including student privacy laws and FERPA.
53% of the district's students are Hispanic, according to documents provided by CCPS.
Charlotte County School District said:
Charlotte County Public Schools follows School Board policy and all applicable state and federal guidelines regarding law enforcement on campus, including FERPA to protect student records. We remain committed to our "all means all" principle.
Hendry County School District Superintendent Mike Swindle said:
Our district is business as usual, if any agency comes to our schools to interview or detain a student, they produce identification and proper documentation, we will comply with the request and follow all protocols within district policy and procedures.
We are not permitted to ask immigration status upon intake of any student, we only ask for local residency information.
Hendry has 12% ELL (English Language Leaners) population.
DeSoto County School District did not reply to our request.
HAS ICE BEEN TO ANY LOCAL SCHOOLS?
There have been claims of federal agents seen at schools on social media. FOX 4 could not confirm the validity of those claims.
Collier County told Fox 4 in a statement, "At this juncture, we have no indication that federal agents are planning to visit our schools. If that should happen, we will review the issues involved on a case-by-case basis in consultation with our Legal Department."
WHERE DO LOCAL SHERIFF'S OFFICES STAND?
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told Fox 4 in a statement, "Law enforcement is an ever changing process, the Lee County Sheriff's Office adapts to new legislation and revised legal requirements everyday. These changes are addressed through training or policy updates. Our priority will ALWAYS be the safety and security of our great residents and visitor in Lee County."
Charlotte County Sheriff's Office said:
The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office has not participated in any immigration-related raids following the election of President Trump. There are no talks of any such raids and the FSA has been in constant contact with HSI and ICE as they develop their enforcement plan. Sheriff Prummell's official stance is that we will, as always, enforce the laws of the United States and the State of Florida as they are written, while ensuring the Constitutional rights of our citizens are protected. Our agency has made no policy adjustments related to this matter and will not until a bill has been approved and passed into law. We will continue to provide the highest level of service possible to the people of Charlotte County, which has always been our top priority.
Collier County Sheriff's Office says it has not received a request for assistance from ICE and provided its Jan. 21 Facebook post about the matter:
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office is one of just 60 Jail Enforcement Model 287g program participants in the United States and just one of 5 participating agencies in Florida. As the longest tenured program participant in the nation and in the past 16 plus years, we have had 11,400 detainers placed and a resultant removal of over 7,400 criminals from our community that did not have (or violated) proper authorization to be in our country. These criminals committed crimes in our county and victimized our community with offenses that include murder, rape and child molestation and more.
We can tell you that our 287g program participation is an important element in our crime fighting and community safety strategy in Collier County. We believe this successful program of removing criminals from our community is one of many reasons why in 2024, US News & World Report designated Naples as the safest community in the United States.
Sheriff Rambosk has asked to expand our 287g partnership program to meet President Trump’s objectives set forth within his Executive Orders.
The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office provided the following statement:
The Desoto County Sheriff's Office is awaiting legislative guidance on immigration enforcement. However, DCSO has participated in the Warrant Service Officer program since 2019 and cooperates with ICE agents. As always, we remain committed to upholding the law in all matters, including those involving immigration.
We have not heard back from the Hendry County Sheriff's Office.
