After President Donald Trump’s administration rolled back regulations that barred federal immigration authorities from schools and other “sensitive” areas, states and education officials are focusing on keeping migrant students safe.

In guidelines from states such as New Jersey and New York, schools were told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents aren’t allowed inside unless they have a specific type of warrant.

For U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enter schools and other sensitive locations, including hospitals and courthouses, agents need a judicial warrant, Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration attorney and retired Cornell Law professor who specialized in immigration law, told McClatchy News on Jan. 28.

“That means a warrant issued by a judge, not an administrative warrant signed by an ICE official,” Yale-Loehr said.

Judicial warrants allow law enforcement officers to carry out arrests, seizures and searches, according to the National Immigration Law Center. Both state and federal judges can sign off on these warrants.

If a warrant carries an immigration judge’s signature, that’s an administrative warrant, which doesn’t give ICE the authority to conduct a search, the nonprofit organization said in a recent report. Administrative warrants allow only a designated law enforcement agency to make arrests and seizures.

“ICE frequently relies on administrative warrants, ICE detainers, or other documents that provide an insufficient basis for entering schools,” Elora Mukherjee, the Jerome L. Greene Clinical Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and director of the university’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, told McClatchy News.

Without a criminal judicial warrant, Mukherjee said “under federalism doctrines embedded in the U.S. Constitution,” districts “have the authority to create policies restricting ICE agents’ entry into schools.”

ICE didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Tuesday.

A judge might sign a judicial warrant to allow ICE agents into a school if a migrant student, staff member or teacher is suspected of a crime, Yale-Loehr explained.

The same goes for any U.S. citizen accused of a crime, he said.

Guidance issued by the New Jersey Department of Education urged it’s “vitally important” for school officials not to take any action if ICE agents arrive with a warrant, court order or subpoena — other than alerting the school district’s legal counsel.

The department said if ICE agents show up to a school with a legal document, it should be shown to the district’s legal counsel, as it might be tough for an “untrained person” to identify the type of document.

Under then-President Joe Biden’s administration, rules were in place to prevent ICE agents from carrying out enforcement actions in schools and other locations, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The DHS got rid of these rules in a directive issued Jan. 20, the day of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” a DHS spokesperson said in a Jan. 21 statement.

Mukherjee called the directive “unacceptable.”

“Districts should make every effort to ensure that schools are safe, welcoming spaces for students and families,” she said.

“The ICE directive authorizing immigration enforcement at schools has already heightened fears among immigrant communities, prompted decreases in student attendance at schools, and made public education more inaccessible for the most vulnerable children among us,” Mukherjee added.

When asked whether school officials can turn away ICE agents, Yale-Loehr said:

“School officials can inform ICE agents that all agency inquiries must first be reviewed by the school district’s lawyers to make sure they comply with applicable privacy and other laws.”

If an ICE agent enters school property or tries to, the New Jersey Department of Education advised staff to notify the school’s head administrator.

In similar guidance issued by New York state, officials said, “Do not allow officers inside school property to access a student, except to address an imminent safety situation or where required by law due to a judicial warrant or order.”

On Jan. 24, U.S. Secret Service agents were mistaken for ICE agents and weren’t allowed inside a Chicago elementary school, according to NBC News.

It was revealed that the Secret Service went to the Chicago school to investigate a threat over the “recent TikTok ban,” the outlet reported.

Two days before, Chicago Public Schools said in a letter to school district families that it “WILL NOT coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement” or share student records “except in the rare case where there is a court order or consent from the parent/guardian.”

The letter also said ICE agents will be turned away without a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge.

According to immigration court data gathered by Syracuse University, the U.S. has seen more than a half-million “school-age migrant children” come to the country since 2022, Reuters reported in October.

“So far, ICE hasn’t carried out raids in schools,” Mukherjee said. “Let’s hope that never happens.

“And, if it does, the American public must speak out to protect the most vulnerable children among us,” she added.

For parents and school officials who might be concerned about ICE agents arriving at schools, Yale-Loehr said he would tell them that the possibility isn’t a likely one.

“As a practical matter, ICE agents are unlikely to go to a school, for several reasons. First, obtaining a judicial warrant takes time,” he said. “Second, ICE could get public blowback from arresting someone at a school.”

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