Across California, the number of new immigrant students or “newcomers” in their first three years in the U.S. has fallen sharply over the past two years. The drop follows an abrupt decrease in border crossings in early 2025 amid changes in federal immigration policy.
The decline has been particularly pronounced in some large urban districts already reeling from years of enrollment losses. In Oakland Unified, more than 1,300 new students arrived each year from other countries from 2017-18 to 2024-25, with the exception of 2020-21 during the pandemic. In 2025-26, 498 new immigrant students enrolled for their first year.
This school year, only 212 new immigrant students had enrolled for the first time as of Oct. 7. Most of them are elementary students…