ICE Agents Detained A Father During School Drop-Off In A Chicago Neighborhood
Acero Schools officials say the father was picked up with two children in their car.
A Chicago-area charter school network informed parents that an adult was detained by federal immigration officials (ICE) outside a school building when dropping children off for class this week. WGN News has reported that the adult was, in fact, a father from the school.
In the communication sent to parents, Acero officials said that at 8:15 a.m., agents from ICE and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives approached an individual in a car outside of Soto High School in the neighborhood of Gage Park. School staff escorted two students from the car into school, and no one was hurt.
Acero Chief Culture Officer Helena Stangle said in a statement that the staff followed protocols. She also said Acero has a civil rights resource hub on its website and regularly shares information about “know your rights” sessions that parents can attend. The charter school network pledged to parents they will continue monitoring “activity to ensure the safest environment for all our students.”
According to WBEZ Chicago, advocates say this may be the first time since President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown started in January that ICE has detained an individual in the presence of children who were arriving or leaving school. WGN News has reported that the adult was, in fact, a father from the school.
The Trump administration said it would allow agents to make arrests at schools, churches, and hospitals, ending a contrary policy in effect since 2011. Still, Chicago school leaders, including the CPS teachers' union, have pledged not to allow ICE agents inside schools except when they have a proper criminal arrest warrant.
Since January 2025, Acero has seen a decline in typical attendance rates by as much as 4%, though Stangle said in the statement they cannot say if this is fully attributable to the Trump administration’s threats of mass deportation.
Ortiz said it is “comforting to see that school administrators have acted fast and have moved to connect families to resources and secure the safety of their families.”
After the initial wave of fear right after Trump’s inauguration, she said families were starting to feel more comfortable sending their children to school. Now, she fears this incident will “refuel those fears.”
Still, Ortiz said she hopes people will understand that the community can be “more powerful than ICE.”
“We understand how stressful and upsetting this is to our school communities,” network officials wrote in the message. Acero School is providing support for those directly impacted, while the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not immediately confirm the action.
