Report: Principals across U.S. say immigration enforcement is creating fear in schools
February 9, 2026
Almost two-thirds of U.S. public high school principals report that students from immigrant families are missing school due to increased immigration enforcement happening in communities across the nation.
That’s according to a report from the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access that was published late last year. “The Fear is Everywhere: U.S. High School Principals Report Widespread Effects of Immigration Enforcement” presents the results of a new nationally representative survey of more than 600 high school principals responding in summer of 2025 to questions examining the educational impact of intensified immigration enforcement during the first months of the second Trump administration.
The research, which also draws on interviews with 49 of the principals, provides a timely and detailed portrait of the broad impact of immigration enforcement with significant majorities of principals across U.S high schools reporting troubling effects of immigration enforcement.
“Given the harsh, even hateful rhetoric and aggressive immigration actions of the Trump administration, the effect on students and schools should not be surprising to anyone,” said UCLA education professor John Rogers, director of UCLA IDEA and lead researcher of the project, in a news release. “But the widespread nature of harmful impact and deep level of concern are alarming. As one principal told us, the fear is everywhere.”
The survey results and interviews make it clear that intensive immigration enforcement poses challenges to principals across the United States and undermines the purpose of public education. Key among the findings:
- More than half of principals (57.8 percent) reported that “immigrant parents and guardians left the community during the school year.”
- More than one-third (35.6 percent) of U.S. public high schools experienced incidents of bullying directed toward students from immigrant families.
As a result, a large majority of U.S. public high schools have taken actions to address the needs of students from immigrant families. More than three-quarters of principals (77.6 percent) report they have “created a school plan to respond to visits from federal agents.”
The report is available at https://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/fear-is-everywhere.