NEW YORK, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration policies already are affecting schools across the country, as officials find themselves responding to rising anxiety among parents and their children, including those who are here legally, reported The Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday.
"Trump's executive actions vastly expanded who is eligible for deportation and lifted a ban on immigration enforcement in schools," noted the report. "While many public and school officials have been working to encourage immigrants to send their children to school, some have done the opposite."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are not known to have entered schools anywhere, according to the report, but the possibility has alarmed families enough that some districts are pushing for a change in the policy allowing agents to operate in schools.
"Around the country, conservatives have been questioning whether immigrants without legal status should even have the right to a public education," it said, adding that in 2021 600,000 K-12 students in the United States lacked legal status, while nearly 4 million students, many of them born in the United States, have a parent living in the country illegally. ■
