Exclusive: Slim majority of voters support keeping ICE off school grounds
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Just over half of U.S. voters say K-12 schools should be off-limits for immigration enforcement, a question that's been thrust into the national conversation amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The big picture: Panic swelled in classrooms across the country after the administration scrapped longstanding guidance that kept immigration officials off of school grounds.
- The administration's aggressive approach — coupled with debunked rumors of raids in hospitals and schools — has forced educators and administrators to quell rampant anxiety in school communities.
What they're saying: "Access to a free, safe and quality public education is a bedrock principle of our nation," Alejandra Vázquez Baur, a fellow at the Century Foundation, said in a statement to Axios.
- She added, "That's why, despite increasing attacks on immigrants from the Trump administration, Americans overwhelmingly support keeping our public schools open to all children, regardless of citizenship status, and free from ICE operations."
Driving the news: Views on whether immigration officials should be permitted on school grounds vary by political affiliation, according to Morning Consult polling commissioned by The Century Foundation and shared exclusively with Axios.
- A net 36% of respondents who voted for Trump in 2024 said they somewhat or strongly opposed keeping the nation's K-12 schools off limits for immigration enforcement.
- Meanwhile, 39% supported keeping officials away from school grounds.
- 18% of Trump voters said they neither supported nor opposed keeping school grounds free from immigration enforcement. The survey polled 1,865 registered voters.
Zoom out: The Supreme Court affirmed in the 1982 case Plyler v. Doe that states must uphold the right to public education for all students, including undocumented immigrants.
- But as red states mirror the administration's aggressive policies, some lawmakers proposed legislation challenging that right.
- In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would permit public schools to turn away undocumented children.
- In Oklahoma, the state Board of Education approved a proposal that would require parents to report their immigration or citizenship status when enrolling children in school — but Gov. Kevin Stitt rejected the provision.
By the numbers: A net 61% of voters said they supported the high court's ruling establishing the right to free public education for all, according to Morning Consult's polling.
- Slightly less than half (49%) of both Republicans and Trump voters said they strongly or somewhat supported the Plyler decision, compared to over three-quarters (76%) of Democrats.
The bottom line: While a White House spokesperson told NBC the policy change on immigration enforcement is not a directive to go into schools, it has left schools and districts to clarify to families their policies on how they would handle ICE agents, should they come knocking.
- Colleges campuses have also entered the spotlight, especially after the weekend ICE arrest of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident and a leader in the campus' pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
- Trump said Khalil's arrest was the first of "many to come" as he's threatened to revoke funding for schools that allow "illegal protests."
Methodology: This poll was conducted between February 22 - February 23, 2025, among a sample of 1,865 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Go deeper: Americans favor deporting undocumented immigrants, until they're asked how
