Immigration changes & social media fueling parent anxiety in Southwest Florida

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — FOX 4 has been hearing from a lot of parents who are concerned about recent immigration changes and what they mean for schools, following a brief statement they received from the Lee County School District.

So we followed up, and on Wednesday, the district responded to our request for more information on how they are handling recent immigration-related Executive Orders coming down from the White House.

Last week President Trump signed a slew of Immigration Executive Orders including one titled "Protecting The American People Against Invasion." In it, according the order:

• Through the exercise of his authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Constitution of the United States, President Trump is authorizing and directing the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of State to take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States.

The Department of Homeland security has since responded, saying, the first directive rescinds the Biden Administration’s guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement actions that thwart law enforcement in or near so-called “sensitive” areas.

Those sensitive areas were considered by past administrations to be schools and churches.

“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens—including murders and rapists—who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense," said a federal Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson.

Since then schools across Florida and the country have been inundated by questions from parents, concerned about whether ICE agents could enter a school and arrest children in the country illegally.

That brings us back to The School District of Lee County, and their answer was succinct. If there is a warrant for an arrest, law enforcement can enter a property and make an arrest. But that was true before President Trump took office: if a law enforcement agency went to a school's property and had an active warrant, they could enter property then and make an arrest.

Here is that statement the district sent to parents and employees:

Dear SDLC Families and Staff, Recently, new executive orders have been issued. It is essential to understand that the School District of Lee County must follow the law. The law states that students are entitled to education regardless of their immigration status. The school district will comply with properly served judicial orders or lawfully served warrants. ​​​​​​​ Thank you for your partnership and understanding.

School District Of Lee County

Per policy, the school district does not ask for immigration status when a student is enrolled. They also do not check status in order to attend school. And as the district relayed in their statement, "the law states that students are entitled to education regardless of their immigration status."

The law they're referring to is under the Department of Education. You can read more about it here.

At this time FOX 4 does not have any confirmed reports of the Department of Homeland Security executing any warrants inside Lee County.

There have been several social media claims citing ICE busses outside of schools in Southwest Florida, but FOX 4 has not been able to confirm the validity of claims.

Could a warrant be issued for a student by a judge? Yes, it is possible, just like police can get a warrant for a student wanted in a crime such as a burglary, and take them into custody at the school. And entering the U.S. without going through the proper immigration process is against the law.

For now, it appears ICE raids around the country have been focused on criminals, with heavy criminal records.

In fact, ICE has been rapidly posting their removals on X every day. See below.

They said today they made 1016 arrest on Wednesday (1/29) and 814 detainers were lodged, like a Mexican National in Houston that was wanted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

We spoke with a Ft Myers immigration attorney about the recent Executive Orders and the new "TRUMP" bill that passed late last night in the Florida Legislature.

Indira Demine says her phone has been ringing off the hook.

"They're afraid to go to the grocery store, to leave their homes, to take their kids to school," Demine said

However, Demine said, raids at schools, given the correct criteria, are legal, and the school district cannot do anything to impact this. But again, the key is the criteria handed to the judge, for the raid.

"ICE raids should be targeted towards undocumented immigrants with outstanding orders of removal, with a warrant for their arrest, and that could be child," Demine said.