SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
(photo credit: The Sand Mountain Reporter)
From Miami to San Diego, public schools across the United States are reporting a dramatic drop in students from immigrant families — a shift that educators say is reshaping classrooms, budgets, and community life.
Administrators in multiple states point to several causes: families self-deporting, parents being detained or returning home voluntarily, and a steep decline in new arrivals due to President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies and tightened border controls.
In Albertville, Alabama, a city known for its long-established Hispanic community and poultry plant workforce, Superintendent Bart Reeves said the district’s newcomer academy has enrolled no new students this year. With Hispanic students making up about 60% of the district, Reeves warned the decline will cost the system about 12 teacher positions. “That’s just not happening this year with the closure of the border,” Reeves said.
In Miami-Dade County, the shift is even more dramatic. The number of newly arrived immigrant students plunged from nearly 14,000 last year to just 2,550 this school year — far below the more than 20,000 who arrived two years ago. School board member Luisa Santos, an immigrant herself, called the trend “a sad reality.” The drop wiped out $70 million from the district’s annual budget.
Families Leaving the U.S. Under Pressure
For some students, the disruption is severe and traumatic. In Palm Beach County, where enrollment is down by more than 6,000, one Guatemalan mother’s detention in Florida forced her seven children into temporary custody before the entire family eventually returned to Guatemala. “My house feels like a garden without flowers,” said Edna, the family friend who cared for them.
Educators nationwide say similar departures are becoming more common. ICE visibility in cities like Chelsea, Massachusetts, has sparked fear, prompting hundreds of students to leave the district — many returning to their home countries.
Schools Struggle With the Social Toll
Districts that once relied on immigrant enrollment to stabilize funding are now facing empty newcomer classrooms. In San Diego, Principal Fernando Hernandez said he has not enrolled a single newcomer student this year. The absence, he warns, is hurting students emotionally and socially. “This is like a repeat of the pandemic where the kids are isolated,” he said.
Parents like Natacha, who fled Venezuela, continue sending their children to school but live in constant fear. “I entrust myself to God,” she said.