NextFin news, Labor unions representing millions of educators and school employees filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, against President Donald Trump's administration. The lawsuit challenges the administration's immigration crackdown policy that permits immigration arrests at or near school campuses, a practice that unions say has terrorized children and teachers, leading to decreased student attendance and participation.
The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, the two largest U.S. teacher unions, are the primary plaintiffs. They argue that the Trump administration's decision to allow immigration enforcement actions at schools violates longstanding legal protections that designate schools as "sensitive locations" where immigration arrests were previously prohibited except under extraordinary circumstances.
The lawsuit also includes educators from an Oregon preschool where masked immigration agents broke a car window and forcibly removed a student's father shortly after the child was dropped off. This incident prompted the school to go into lockdown, with teachers playing music to shield students from the disturbance. Lauren Fong, a teacher of the affected child, criticized the decision to confront the father in the school parking lot, which she described as private property, stating, "Why a school? Why not someplace else, any place else?"
The lawsuit builds on a prior April filing by an Oregon farmworker union and a group of churches, which challenged the Trump administration's expansion of immigration enforcement into houses of worship. The amended complaint argues that rescinding the 2021 Department of Homeland Security memo—which had instructed agents to avoid sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and places of worship—violates the Administrative Procedure Act by implementing policies that are "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law."
Since the start of Trump's second term, the administration rescinded the sensitive locations memo and instructed immigration agents to use "common sense" when operating near schools and churches, asserting that "criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest."
The lawsuit details multiple incidents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting arrests in and around school and church grounds. One example cited occurred in Los Angeles, where masked border patrol officers ordered a 15-year-old boy with disabilities out of a car at gunpoint while searching for a gang-affiliated man. The boy was handcuffed and only released after agents realized they had the wrong person.
Teachers from Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, and Texas provided testimonials describing increased anxiety among immigrant students and their families, decreased school attendance, and reluctance to enroll in special education or English learning programs due to fear of immigration enforcement. Some high school teachers reported students stopped attending classes in the spring, fearing arrest on campus.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, emphasized the need for safe and welcoming classrooms, stating, "America's classrooms must be safe and welcoming places of learning and discovery."
Leaders of immigrant churches involved in the lawsuit also reported heightened anxiety and reduced Mass attendance, arguing that immigration enforcement actions at places of worship infringe on First Amendment rights by deterring parishioners from attending services.
The Department of Homeland Security was contacted for comment but had not responded as of Saturday.
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