ICE cannot enter Catskill schools without a warrant, district says

CATSKILL―Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will not be allowed entry into Catskill schools without a warrant, district officials say.

In a letter to families on Wednesday, Interim Superintendent John Xanthis and Assistant Superintendent Deborah Johnson explained how the district handles interactions with agencies like ICE, “should they occur.”

“Our highest priority is to provide a safe, welcoming, and supportive learning environment for every student,” Xanthis and Johnson stated, adding that “given the current news regarding immigration enforcement, we want to clearly explain how we protect your child’s rights.”

The letter notes that the U.S. Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe guarantees all students the right to a free public education, regardless of their immigration status.

The landmark 1982 decision held that denying undocumented children access to free public K-12 education violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

The letter further states that the Catskill Central School District does not collect or share information regarding the immigration status of students or their families.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “Public schools are prohibited from: asking students or their parents about their immigration status for the purposes of enrollment; revealing a student’s or their parent’s immigration status without their permission; and requiring social security numbers from students.”

“Schools are prohibited from sharing a student’s or their family’s private information contained in education records without the written consent of a parent, guardian, or the student (if over 18 years old). Exceptions include if the information is considered directory information or if a valid judicial order or subpoena is presented,” the ACLU notes.

In Catskill, “ICE will not be permitted to remove a student from school grounds without the proper legal authorization, such as a warrant signed by a judge. No ICE officials will be granted entry to our schools, or given access to students or school records, without the proper legal authorization, such as a warrant signed by a judge,” Xanthis and Johnson wrote.

“All ICE requests will be reviewed by the superintendent’s office and the district’s legal counsel before any action may be taken,” they added.

“To ensure consistency and legal compliance across our campuses, our superintendent’s office is the only point of contact for ICE. School staff are instructed to refer all inquiries there immediately,” they further stated.

On January 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded 2011 and 2021 policies that limited immigration enforcement actions in sensitive spaces, including churches, hospitals and schools.

“ICE is not conducting enforcement operations at, or ‘raiding,’ schools. ICE is not going to schools to make arrests of children. Criminals are no longer able to hide in America’s schools to avoid arrest,” according to an official statement issued by DHS last fall.

Since then, ICE and DHS activity has been reported near schools and the change in policy has left many immigrant families on edge with some districts across the country continuing to see a negative impact on student attendance.

This month, two Minnesota school districts and the state’s teachers’ union filed a federal lawsuit challenging the DHS policy change and alleging that agents have staged operations from at least two school parking lots.

The exact number of undocumented K-12 students in the country is unknown. In 2019, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimated that around 98,000 undocumented students, ages 15 to 19, graduate from high school every year in the United States.

Rumors of ICE present at Catskill schools are false, district officials said, but questions and concerns have been expressed by community members.

“Protecting the rights of all students while complying with applicable laws is our priority. Our goal is to remain transparent and ensure that you feel confident sending your children to school every day,” Xanthis and Johnson stated.

“We are here to support your child and provide them with the best possible education we can,” they added.