Chuck Darwin“They took her, they took her, they took her.”
Those were some of the words Cora Muñoz, the Wilbur Cross high school assistant principal, could discern while on the phone with the guardian of one of her students.
As the caller sobbed and struggled to speak, Muñoz realized that immigration enforcement agents had detained a kid from Wilbur Cross, the high school she helps lead.
Again.
There was a reason why Muñoz was a go-to contact for the student and her guardian:
she – and #New #Haven public schools more broadly – have worked hard to earn the trust of immigrant families in their diverse district,
even as the second Trump administration has made it easier for immigration officers to enter schools and launched a mass deportation campaign.
The district’s teachers and administrators have nurtured deep relationships with immigrant-serving organizations and helped kids access resources – attorneys, social workers, food – when needed.
They’ve hosted sessions to inform students about their rights and sent home cards with legal information in case of an encounter with immigration officers.
And when the worst has happened
– when someone’s child or parent has been detained, which has occurred over and over in recent months
– they have taken immediate action, writing letters in support of the family member’s freedom and raising money alongside a larger coalition of advocates trying to bring that person home.
“In these moments where it’s hard, you show up,” said Muñoz, “and you do what you can.”
Yet nothing has been able to entirely snuff out
the fear of deportation inside the city’s schools,
say students and educators.
That may have contributed to a decline this October in the number of English language learner students enrolling;
their numbers dropped by more than 2,000, or nearly 3.8%, across Connecticut between fall 2024 and fall 2025,
and by 7.3% percent in New Haven, with many immigrant families who were expected to return to school simply disappearing.
Chronic absenteeism rates fell in New Haven during the 2024-25 academic year.
-- But after Donald Trump took office, students said their families told them to skip extracurriculars or early college courses at a university campus in case immigration enforcement was around.
For some, a college degree has started to feel more out of reach,
as they adjust their dreams to fit within a new anti-immigrant reality.
Teachers have seen kids stop participating in class after friends have been detained and they wonder if they could be next.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/23/ice-kids-conneticut-schools?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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