Chicago Public Schools has sent multiple emails to families assuring them the district is prepared for a potential National Guard presence in the city following President Donald Trump saying Chicago will be next in his federal crackdowns.
In the midst of the uncertainty, CPS has reiterated to parents and students that school is a safe place in a letter sent last week. No families in the district are required to share their immigration status with CPS, and the district is committed to not working with or sharing student records with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
The concerns come after repeated remarks from Trump indicating his intent to send troops to Chicago to curb perceived violence in the city, despite a drop in crime rates in the last year. The threat was made seemingly more real last week when the Trump administration asked to use the Naval Station Great Lakes base in North Chicago ahead of a potential “immigration operation.”
Then, Trump doubled down at an unrelated news conference Tuesday. “We’re going in,” Trump said when asked Tuesday about deploying the National Guard in Chicago. “I didn’t say when, but we’re going in.”
The letter also advocates for families and students to take extra safety precautions, including having a group of parents and students to walk to and from school together, creating a carpool group or buddy system while on public transportation, and being in communication with their block or neighborhood to share information quickly if needed.
Quick communication between community members has already started in some neighborhoods, Lowell Elementary School Local School Council member Magdalena Martinez said. If she hears that ICE officers are in the neighborhood — Humboldt Park — she spreads the word, including to local schools.
“The first place I tell is the school,” Martinez said. “I said, ‘They’re around here, and they’re on this street and the street, so be careful.’”
Fear is especially apparent in immigrant communities, Martinez said. Grocery stores seem emptier since talk of the National Guard started. Parents are worried about leaving the house, let alone letting their children leave for school, she added.
“They’re scared of sending them to school because they don’t know if they’re going to pick up their kids,” Martinez said. “Our people are already scared. They don’t need to be more scared.”
The district solidified its stance on working with immigration enforcement last year when the Chicago Board of Education passed a resolution stating CPS will not provide assistance to ICE in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law. It also states ICE is not permitted access to district facilities or personnel unless it has a criminal warrant to do so.
For now, Martinez’s two granddaughters within CPS are unaware of the potential threats their classmates might face. At ages 3 and 9, they are too small to know, she said, though they might soon be faced with National Guard troops in their neighborhood.
“That’s the reality, that they’re going to be seeing things like this and then we got to tell them, which is very hard to do, because you don’t want them to live in an environment where all have to be scared where we live and where we’re at or who we talk to,” Martinez said.
The deployment also raises the question of how much federal money will be spent on the National Guard’s presence, Bronzeville Classical Elementary School parent and Local School Council Advisory Board member Stephen Mitchell said.
“There are other ways, more efficient, more sustainable ways to deal with the issues, as opposed to just sending troops and having them on the street and scaring people,” Mitchell said.
The biggest concern for Mitchell is the federal financial resources used to bring the National Guard to Chicago that could go elsewhere. The National Guard should not come, he said, and instead use those resources to help people directly, such as people experiencing homelessness.
“I think it will probably be more of an agitation than a help,” Mitchell said.
A better use of the money would be at schools such as those in CPS and across the country, which are facing tighter budgets and fewer resources after federal cuts to the U.S. Department of Education, he added.
With the view that the city itself needs more money from both the government and the state, the prioritization of sending the National Guard to Chicago to stop crime seems financially unnecessary, Mitchell said.
“The amount of money that they’re spending on that kind of stuff we could be using to keep teachers in the classroom, we could be using to help restore buildings, we could be using for after-school programs,” Mitchell said. “All of those things are what we really need, and they all help curb crime, not just having tanks in the streets.”
It is unclear if Trump will follow through on the deployment threats. The president’s use of the National Guard in Los Angeles during immigration enforcement protests earlier this year was deemed illegal by a judge Tuesday, who determined the action violated federal law.
Even with the ruling, it is yet to be determined if Trump tries something similar in Illinois. Over 50 people were shot over the Labor Day weekend that included multiple mass shootings, news the president is pointing to as more of a reason to come to the city, which he called a “hellhole” Tuesday during a news conference.
CPS interim CEO Macquline King emphasized many of the letter’s key points at the Chicago Board of Education meeting last week, sharing that the district is in conversations with city officials and labor partners about what to do if the National Guard were deployed. Public safety issues such as this are the responsibility of the city and state, so CPS will follow their lead, King said.
“We don’t know when or even if this will happen, but I want our school communities to know that CPS is prepared,” King said. “I know that anxiety among many families has been high since the new administration took office, so the possibility of an even greater federal presence in our city has been making this tension that much worse.”
The district hears parents’ worries, King said, apologizing that the potential military presence would be coming amid a time when students should be happy.
“I wanted our families to hear directly from the district that we understand their concerns and that their children will remain safe, supported and loved every day that they are in our school,” King said.
CTU says district ‘not ready’ for remote learning
It is unclear how, or if, school protocols will change with federal troops in town. The district could consider providing remote learning, although that has not been decided, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates said at a Wednesday news conference.
The district is not ready to move to remote learning at this moment, and should have a backup plan in place, Davis Gates told reporters. “Because in order for CPS to do anything, they need the 30,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union and our coalition work,” she said.
CTU is working to ensure teachers are informed of immigrants’ rights, per their contract, Davis Gates added. This includes training staff to respond to ICE agents should they come to schools. However, Davis Gates was not specific about what the training entails. Their focus, she said, is on having good communication, transparency around any incidents and ensuring people understand their rights.
CPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We have to know that we have each other’s backs,” Davis Gates said. “We’re better able to support each other if people understand their role, their responsibility, who has their back and how it works. So we’re working with them to clarify those things.”
Meanwhile, the district will remain in communication with its families regarding anything about the potential National Guard deployment, according to King.
“The start of the school year should be about learning and discovery, not fear and intimidation,” King said. “I know there’s a lot of fear out there, but I hope our families will trust me when I say that the best and safest place for our children is still at school.”
