Reps. Goldman, Ocasio-Cortez, Espaillat Demand Answers on ICE Arrests and Deportations of K-12 Students

 

  

Washington, D.C. – Congressmembers Dan Goldman (NY-10), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) today led a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon expressing profound concern over the pattern of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting students across the country.  

  

Last month, the administration arrested and quickly deported 6-year-old Dayra and her mother, separating their family. Dayra’s brother, a recent graduate, was also detained and remains in adult ICE detention. Two of Dayra’s siblings remain in New York without their mother, including one who is also a young student. There are at least five publicly reported cases of K-12 student arrests in New York City. 

  

“ICE’s targeting of not only adults without criminal convictions, but also children and families, negates the administration’s stated policy of going after the ‘worst of the worst’ for deportation proceedings. We demand answers to the questions below regarding why ICE has prioritized K-12 students, what conditions these students are being held in, and how the Department of Education is meeting its obligations to them during their indefinite detention,” the Members wrote. 

   

In addition to Representatives Goldman, Ocasio-Cortez, and Espaillat, the following members joined in signing: Representatives Yvette Clarke (NY-09), George Latimer (NY-16), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Grace Meng (NY-06), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07).  

 

 

  

Dear Secretary Noem and Secretary McMahon, 

 

As we begin a new school year, we write to express profound concern about the pattern of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting K-12 public school students throughout the country. Here in New York City, school communities have been shaken by the arrest and deportation of school children as young as six years old. ICE’s targeting of not only adults without criminal convictions, but also children and families, negates the administration’s stated policy of going after the “worst of the worst” for deportation proceedings. Many do not even have open orders of removal in their family’s immigration proceedings. We demand answers to the questions below regarding why ICE has prioritized K-12 students, what conditions these students are being held in, and how the Department of Education is meeting its obligations to them during their indefinite detention. 

 

There are at least five cases of K-12 student arrests that have been publicly reported in New York City. Many more educators and loved ones have come to our offices for help, but fear retaliation from this administration if they were to tell their story publicly. 

 

Not only did these students have no criminal convictions, they made every attempt to comply with their immigration hearings and ICE check-ins. Despite that, they were held in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, and were transported far away from their families, lawyers, and school communities. Joselyn shared: 

 

 

The cases above are just the ones the public knows about. Close to 2,000 children were arrested by ICE in the interior of the country between January 20th and July 31st. Poor conditions and inadequate care in immigration detention not only cause immediate harm to a child’s health, they can have long-term physical and mental consequences, impacting their studies and their adult life. There is no doubt that these experiences are deeply traumatic for the children and young people detained, but also for their classmates and educators, regardless of immigration status. Exposing K-12 students to the trauma of immigration enforcement is certain to have social and economic consequences for their entire communities. 

 

All students in the United States are entitled to equal access to education, regardless of their immigration status, race or nationality, or the language they speak. This right is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and has been upheld by the Supreme Court in Plyler v. Doe. The Department of Education is responsible for ensuring equal access to education. We demand transparency on how the Department of Education is fulfilling its obligations to students in ICE detention, as well as how it is looking after the mental health impact of student arrests and detentions to the broader school community, including to the U.S. citizen classmates of detained students. 

 

It is impossible to reconcile ICE’s narrative of making communities safer by going after “the worst of the worst” when the majority of those currently in ICE detention, almost 70%, have no criminal convictions, according to data published by the agency. Students like Dylan and Dayra represent the very best of this country. Their cases remind us of the irreparable harm that this administration’s reckless mass deportation policies cause our students and communities. 

 

We therefore request answers in writing to the following questions no later than October 15, 2025: