For Max Sanchez, the start of the school year is usually an exciting time. But for the high school social studies teacher in Woodburn — and for many others — this year is different.

In January, just after President Trump’s second inauguration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security rescinded Biden-era guidelines that prohibited immigration officers from arresting migrants at sensitive locations like schools and churches.

Since then, many families and educators have feared that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will target Oregon schools for arrests, including at bus stops, or at high-traffic times, such as when parents are picking up or dropping off children. In July, ICE officers arrested a chiropractor at a Beaverton preschool as he was dropping off his child.

School officials told OPB this summer that this fear could deter families from enrolling their children in local schools.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For many Woodburn students, this tension has become a fact of daily life, with almost two-thirds of the city’s residents identifying as Latino or Hispanic.

“Everyone knows someone — a friend, coworker, or family member — who lives under the constant threat of being detained,” Sanchez wrote in a statement to OPB.

The Woodburn district enrolls more than 5,200 students, about 87% of whom are Latino or Hispanic. About 42% of staff are, too. However, not all immigrants in Oregon are Latino, and many people who identify as Latino aren’t immigrants.

“We have reports of students who are afraid to come to school due to fear of being detained or having their family members taken away while they are at school,” Sanchez said.

Educators say the worries can affect students emotionally and undermine their academic performance.

“Tragically, students who experience this level of fear are not able to focus effectively on their school work or reach their full potential as learners,” Sanchez said.

In 18 years as an educator, Sanchez said he has never seen anything that approaches the impact that ICE raids have had on students today.

“As a community and as a society, we have to do better.”

Trump has emphasized removing undocumented migrants as one of his top priorities in his second term. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reportedly deported hundreds of thousands of people in the first seven months of Trump’s current administration.

Woodburn drew attention last spring when the school board initially rejected the adoption of a “safe and welcoming schools” proclamation, reasserting existing protections for students, staff and families who are immigrants. The board later adopted the resolution after vocal community support for it.

Amalia Moreno has taught in Woodburn for nearly three decades. She’s a dual-language second-grade teacher. Even though she’s a U.S. citizen, she and her family have changed their lives out of fear of ICE deportation.

“We can’t have normal activities take place,” she said. “There’s been community celebrations that we’re not even comfortable attending because part of our family can be taken.”

Moreno said she does all the public-facing responsibilities for her family, such as grocery shopping.

“I still fear for myself because I am not Anglo-Saxon. I’m not white,” she said. “I’m very Mexican.”

Moreno has explained the district protocols to local families who are scared to send their children to school.

According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, ICE officials may now enter public areas of a school, but they still need authorization from school officials or a judicial warrant to enter private spaces. Schools advise staff not to give any information to officers and instead direct them to the principal.

Woodburn district leaders said on their resources website: “If an ICE official were to attempt to access a campus, they will be asked to provide identification and will be directed to speak to an administrator.”

Oregon public schools are legally obligated to educate every child between the ages of 5 and 18 who has not completed the 12th grade, regardless of the immigration status of the student or their parents. State law also protects students’ education records from being used for immigration action.

But ICE raids and deportations in Oregon, despite its sanctuary status, have left people like Moreno distrustful of the system. The Trump administration is also targeting sanctuary states, though, so far, Gov. Tina Kotek has defended Oregon’s law.

Moreno has noticed fear grow among students and parents, something especially heartbreaking, she said, to see in a 5-year-old child.

“It’s so awful,” she said. “It’s awful.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/02/families-staff-return-woodburn-school-fear-ice-arrests-deportation/