The Trump administration’s decision to revoke the Biden-era guidelines that designated schools as “sensitive” areas off-limits for immigration enforcement has ignited a heated debate about the intersection of law enforcement, education, and funding priorities.
On Tuesday, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman stated, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.” This shift gives Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) greater latitude to operate within schools, a move heralded by proponents of stricter immigration enforcement as a step toward national security. But not everyone sees it that way.
Critics argue that the move isn’t about public safety but rather about using schools as battlegrounds for immigration policy. Progressive groups, including The Century Foundation, have made their stance clear, advising school systems to obstruct enforcement efforts at every turn.
According to The Century Foundation, the strategy is simple: keep immigrant children in schools to maintain enrollment and, consequently, funding. Denver and other districts with rising immigrant enrollments have already pledged to follow this guidance, citing their “district protocols” as a buffer against law enforcement.
This debate is revealing in more ways than one. The Century Foundation’s arguments lay bare the financial incentives that underlie the fight to keep schools populated with immigrant students. Public schools across the U.S. have faced dramatic enrollment declines over the past several years—New York City schools, for instance, have lost over 100,000 students since 2019, while Chicago saw eight years of declines before a modest uptick in 2023. These losses translate to decreased funding, fewer teaching jobs, and potential school closures. Immigrant students, especially those classified as English learners, are seen as a fiscal lifeline, providing enrollment-dependent funds that prevent the system from contracting.
But there’s a cost to this “financial logic,” and it’s one taxpayers are footing. Districts spend significantly more per student on English learners compared to native speakers. In Montgomery County, Maryland, for instance, the cost per American student was $14,000 in 2024, while English learners required $22,000.
Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia faced a $300 million budget shortfall largely driven by skyrocketing ESL costs, which ballooned from $94 million in 2019 to $142 million in 2024. Despite these expenditures, many students remain in ESL programs for years, raising questions about efficiency and whether the system is incentivized to prolong their status for funding reasons.
The motivations behind The Century Foundation’s advocacy raise eyebrows. By prioritizing race-based equity goals and funding formulas, they push for policies that some argue are more about social engineering than education. Their insistence that districts with large Hispanic populations require significantly more money—even when actual spending figures contradict their claims—has drawn sharp criticism.
For example, they argued that Wagon Mound Public Schools in New Mexico were underfunded by $20,184 per student, despite the district already spending $35,182 per pupil. Meanwhile, they suggested cutting funding for Los Alamos Public Schools, which serve the children of elite scientists, from $10,804 to $8,000 to achieve “equity.”