Immigration Enforcement and SASD
As President Donald Trump found himself back in power for the United States this year, one of the main ideologies for his campaign was in response to immigration (primarily illegal immigration) in the country. On top of the wall already constructed at the US-Mexico border from his previous presidency, his propositions about all types of illegal immigrants and refugees have caused an uproar, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers picking up the pace of their seizure and repositioning efforts.
ICE was established in March 2003 out of the prior Immigration and Neutralization Service (INS) alongside two other replacement agencies: the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). ICE, in particular, focuses on physically finding, detaining, and relocating illegal immigrants in the US, whereas the other two new agencies focus on the ways immigrants enter the country and the policies and practices associated with their arrival and stay. These agencies were created in response to a government desire for stricter protection against terrorism and entry control following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
In practice, ICE has recently involved officers arriving at a suspect’s doorstep, and if necessary, detaining and keeping the immigrant until they can attend immigration court. These practices require consent from the homeowner without proper documentation. However, many advocates across the country have responded by reminding immigrants of their rights when faced with an ICE officer at the door, encouraging them to deny entry and confrontation.
“If ICE agents do not have a warrant signed by a judge, they cannot enter the home without permission from an adult,” said the Immigrant and Defense Project, an organization that advocates for US immigrants. “Try to stay calm. Be polite. Don’t lie. Say ‘I don’t want to talk to you right now.’”
These action plans that many immigrants are reviewing consider the fact that ICE cannot enter the home without a signed warrant from a judge, and that they can exercise their 5th Amendment rights.
Conversely, the federal government and Trump alike plan to continue the crackdown on many immigrants. Despite the cost to deport a single immigrant from the United States sitting around $10,500, Trump has considered pushing national defense funding toward the cause.
“I will declare a national emergency at our southern border […] all illegal entry will immediately be halted. And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” Trump said during his presidential inauguration.
In the near future of this presidency, ICE will likely persist and attempt the deportation Trump’s campaign planned for. Stoughton schools have not been contacted by ICE as of Feb. 2025. No teacher, supervisor, or district administrator has seen or heard from an officer looking to question a student about their immigrant status.
However, even if ICE were to have contacted the district, the decision is in the hands of each Stoughton school to decide how to handle it. This includes letting ICE into the school in the first place, and dealing with the particular students.
“The school itself is a […] space that we control, so we have the right to say ‘you can’t be on school grounds—you have to wait on the roads’ and so forth.[…] If they were to come and buzz to get in, again, we can ask, ‘why are you here?’” said Dan Keyser, the Stoughton Area School District Superintendent.
The district staff have also expressed concern for immigrant students’ privacy. Tammy Messinger is Stoughton High School’s English Learning Strategist and currently works with many students who need extra support adapting and belonging to the English curriculum and atmosphere at SHS, including immigrant students.
“We don’t know everyone’s immigration status […] no staff member or anybody should ever ask that in this building. So if students have shared it with me, that’s fine, but I would obviously never ask them that,” Messinger said.
Many students, primarily immigrant students and those facing challenges with the legalities of US residency, have been brought to concern with respect to the recent ICE intervention throughout the country. However, the district seeks to ease those concerns and push its goal of being there for the students—no matter the conflicts between.
“I know that the narrative in the media has created a sense of fear for our students who are immigrants, whether they are here legally, illegally, [have a] refugee status or not,” Keyser said. “[But] this district is going to stand up for each and every student, regardless of their background.”
Messinger concurs with the district’s mission, insisting she’ll be there for the immigrant, multicultural and multilingual students she works with.
“I’ve just tried to be here to support them through [all of] it, and try to help them […] process it,” Messinger said.
While ICE has not contacted the district, the current aim of the district is to ensure that the staff will work to help students who are concerned and that certain protective measures are in place if ICE were to attempt intervention in the future.
