Parents, students and community activists rallied outside the Alachua County Public Schools board meeting Tuesday afternoon to voice concern over policies that grant U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to public schools.
The rally, organized by the Gainesville Immigrant Neighbor Inclusion Initiative, took place at the Alachua County School’s district office with a turnout of over 50 protesters.
ACPS updated its employee guidelines in February to require staff compliance at the hands of ICE — even if the agents come without a warrant. The policy directs school employees to obey law enforcement requests, including interviewing or removing students from class. Educators don’t need parental knowledge or consent to follow suit with any of these measures.
The guidelines also note if ICE agents look to interview or remove a student, school administrators should request to see the agents’ identifying documents and contact the student’s parents.
Protesters called for stricter safeguards, including requiring government officials to show identification, present a warrant before questioning students on school grounds and grant ACPS the authority to verify the authenticity of any warrant before taking action.
“Parents want meaningful engagement,” said Rafael Solorzano, a UF Latin American studies professor. “That means for school board leaders and administrations to always be transparent to what is happening with their schools.”
The school board, however, was not present; its typical Tuesday meeting was canceled. School board meetings are scheduled on the first and third Tuesday of each month. ACPS did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
“What change can you make? They’re not even having the meeting,” said Zach Whiteman, a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation. “The change is in everyone who drives by, everyone who walks by. We’re trying to build a strong movement of support for this so that we can make actual change.”
Ethan Maia de Needell, an immigrant program manager at the Rural Women’s Health Project and a GINI Initiative organizer, has led several community protests in addition to Tuesday’s rally. Reform from the School Board depends on the accumulation of pressure these protests create, he said.
The district’s revised guideline goes beyond federal requirements, Maia de Needell said.
“The superintendent has much more control than she would like to have us believe; she can make these minor changes,” he said.
The guideline points to a federal statute that gives ICE the authority to make warrantless arrests, but a closer look at the law reveals that its scope is more complex than the policy suggests, Maia de Needell said. Federal law permits warrantless arrests by immigration officers if a crime is committed in their presence, or if they have reason to believe someone committed a felony and would likely escape before a warrant can be obtained.
“Other districts in our own state are requiring what we’re asking for,” Maia de Needell said. “If it was true that that’s a federal law, then every school would have the same policy.”
The absence of a required warrant blurs the line between safety and danger for children in school, as it leaves them vulnerable to anyone who might impersonate ICE or any other government official.
Amber Scott and Róisín Michael, who send their daughter to a private school in Gainesville, said they’ve seen some of her friends leave public schools because of immigration fears.
“If they are going to come for the public schools, they are going to come for the private schools, too,” Scott said.
Warren Goldstein, a retired professor from the private Hartford University in west Connecticut, linked the district’s decision to state-level political pressure.
“The governor of the state is famously anti-immigrant. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is pressure,” he said. “We need the whole community. People tend to change their minds if there’s sufficient pressure.”
Contact Ariana Badra at arianabadra@ufl.edu. Follow her on X @arianavbm.
Ariana is a first-year journalism major and an El Caimán reporter for the Fall of 2025. In her free time, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and scouring for new songs to play on repeat to an absurd degree.
