On Jan. 25, 2025, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was issued the Enforcement Actions in Near or Protected Areas directive by Homeland Security. This directive expands the operating powers of ICE, allowing them to arrest illegal immigrants in areas once deemed “protected,” such as courthouses, schools and hospitals. The new administration under President Donald Trump implemented these policies.
NBC News reported that ICE operations began taking place in Chicago on Jan. 26, 2025. Since arrests and deportations are becoming more frequent, the school highlighted their policies regarding immigration officers.
“All visitors, including members of law enforcement, are required to follow our established procedures. We also have clear guidelines in place for our security and administrative teams to follow when responding to immigration officials,” Principal Arwen Lyp said.
Social studies teacher Laura Rodey teaches AP American Government and Politics, which has a curriculum focused on the foundations of government and current events.
“I had multiple students asking me about ICE. Students have lots of questions about these things. It does impact the lives of students,” Rodey said.
Rodey explained how she believes new ICE policies will impact DGS.
“There are students here who are undocumented, or there are students at DGS whose parents are undocumented, or they might have a family member who’s undocumented,” Rodey said. “So this does have real life implications for the DGS community: the fear of being apprehended by race, or the fear of deportation. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The Downers Grove community is likely to see less ICE activity compared to other areas. Junior Zoya Siddiqui follows U.S. immigration policies and political news closely.
“I’m not going to lie, I don’t think it [ICE] will impact the DGS community very much because it’s no surprise that we live in a predominantly white community. Not to say that there aren’t people of color in this community that it will affect; however, I think in the sense of directly affecting family members, I don’t think it’ll have a big effect,” Siddiqui said.
Siddiqui is concerned about the social implications of these new immigrant policies.
“No American should feel that because of the language they speak or the way they look that they have no right to be here, because everyone has a right to be here. There’s no such thing as an illegal person. I think it’s really important that we as a community acknowledge that this is a frightening time with the insecurity that is all of our places in this community,” Siddiqui said.
