At Aldine’s La Promesa bilingual school, word spread among families that some students had been stopped by law enforcement while walking to school. It prompted some families to keep their children home out of fear even as district and campus leaders have assured them that “school is the safest place to be.”
The absences reflect a broader shift across the Houston area: districts have lost as many as one in five immigrant students since last year, according to an analysis by the Houston Chronicle. Overall, 20 of the region’s public school districts have lost nearly 8,300 immigrant students and nearly 18,000 emergent bilingual students. Experts link the decline to increased federal immigration enforcement.
“I get questions from my daughter … ‘Why didn’t my friend come back?’” said Cinthia Lopez, who once was a newcomer student herself and is now a parent in Aldine. “It’s hard for them. They don’t understand it.”…