Do Texas K-12 schools have to cooperate with ICE? Here’s what the law says
With immigration enforcement ramping up across Texas, some parents are asking a straightforward question: What would happen if ICE agents showed up at my kid’s school?
Some want to know whether officers can enter school grounds without permission, while others wonder if their child has rights once they walk into the building.
The Star-Telegram spoke with Jenny Carroll, a professor of law and criminal law expert at Texas A&M University, to help explain what schools are required to do and where ICE’s authority stops.
Here’s what to know.
Do Texas K-12 schools have to cooperate with ICE agents?
Yes, but ICE access is limited.
Carroll said schools have ongoing relationships with law enforcement, but that access has to be balanced.
“When students go to school, they don’t just check their constitutional rights at the door. They retain some of them and beyond that, the school’s obligation is to protect the children as much as possible.”
K- 12 schools are generally considered non-public spaces under federal policy and constitutional law.
That means ICE cannot enter classrooms, offices, or other restricted areas without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, even after the January 2025 directive that ended the previous “protected areas” policy.
“If ICE were to just show up, for example, at a K-12 school without a warrant and asked to enter and begin questioning students about their immigration status, that wouldn’t be permissible,” Carroll said. “I don’t think it’d be permissible under state, federal or constitutional law.”
If a warrant does exist, school staff are allowed to verify it, ask why officers are requesting access, and limit entry to public spaces like front offices or lobbies.
“A school official would likely bring the child to the ICE agent, rather than allowing the ICE agent to just roam around the school,” she said.
It’s also worth noting that administrative warrants issued by DHS do not give agents the authority to access private areas of a school campus.
Schools are also advised to make and retain a photocopy of the warrant and obtain the name of the ICE agent.
If my child is detained by ICE at school, does the school have to notify me?
Yes. Schools must contact the parent or whoever is listed on the student’s emergency contact card, according to the Immigration Legal Resource Center.
“They have to be notified that the child is detained, why the child is being detained, and the parent is the one who would then get to assert their rights on behalf of the child,” Carroll said.
Carroll pointed to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Arizona v. Gault, which held that minors do not lose their due process protections simply because they are children.
“They would also have the same rights to counsel that an adult would, which is the opportunity to have someone provide them with expertise in both the substance of the law and process of the law.”
Federal privacy law also limits what information schools can share with ICE.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), generally prevents districts from releasing a student’s private educational records without consent or a court order.
Schools must also make a reasonable effort to notify parents if federal authorities request records, unless a specific legal exception applies, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
While FERPA does include narrow exceptions, the law does not give ICE open access to student files, and it does not allow schools to turn over information about undocumented students without proper legal authority.
Can ICE enter a university campus?
Yes, but access works differently than it does at K-12 schools.
Universities are usually dealing with adults, Carroll said, which means the rules around attendance and parental notification don’t apply the same way.
“College campuses are also tricky because they can be more spread out with public and semi-public spaces on campuses,” which changes how ICE can move around.
ICE can enter public areas like sidewalks, quads, and open campus spaces without a warrant.
But private or limited access areas such as classrooms, offices, residence halls, or student service centers generally require a judicial warrant signed by a judge, according to federal policy.
Institutional employees are not required to grant access or assist immigration officers in entering non-public areas of a campus.
Universities can also ask to see a warrant and restrict agents to public spaces until one is provided.
What protections are students not guaranteed in immigration cases?
Carroll said one of the biggest misconceptions about ICE enforcement is that immigration cases work like criminal cases. They don’t.
Many of the constitutional protections people expect simply aren’t available in the immigration system, she said, and that affects both adults and children.
“These rights to a speedy trial and the timely appointment of counsel that exist in criminal cases to protect people’s constitutional rights and to make sure that the government is using its force and power fairly, they’re really truncated in immigration law,” Carroll said.
And the gap doesn’t shrink for younger students.
“So if the adult does not have very many rights, the kid does not have very many rights either,” she said.
The lack of clear rules can leave families unsure what to expect.
“It just becomes more of a procedural free for all and the downside of that is, if there’s not clearly articulated rules about what is okay and what is not okay, people are afraid,“ Carroll said. “And they’re afraid with good reason, because it looks like the government can just behave completely arbitrarily to do whatever they want.”
