Democrats in the state House and Senate have introduced a pair of bills that would limit immigration enforcement in K-12 schools across the commonwealth.
The identical proposals introduced in each chamber would require school districts to adopt policies banning staff from allowing federal immigration agents or local law enforcement assisting them from entering the majority of school property without a signed judicial warrant.
While agents would be allowed to enter designated public areas of school property like a lobby, staff would be required to refuse further entry, including to parts of the property where students board or exit buses and cars, without a warrant. School staff would also be required to ask any agent requesting entry for their identification and contact information.
The measures would also ban school personnel from sharing students’ identifying information, including their bus routes and family immigration status, with federal agents or law enforcement for the purpose of immigration enforcement. It would require school districts to hold annual training on the policies and to enact a disciplinary process for staff who violate it.
Both bills are authored and co-sponsored exclusively by Democrats, with 41 signed on to the House version and 12 to the Senate version.
“[Schools] should be a place of safety and learning, where every child has access and can focus on their education without fear or disruption,” said Rep. Joe Hohenstein (D-Philadelphia), the sponsor of the House bill. “Families have to trust that schools are safe places, but if immigration [enforcement] intrudes or raids those schools, or even just has the threat of doing so, that breaks the trust that that institution has with families.”
A spokesperson for U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not respond to a request for comment.
Aaliya Wafa, a high school Junior from Pittsburgh who moved to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2022, spoke in favor of the measures at a press conference Monday.
“When I came here, I was hoping to be safe, to have a great education and to have a better life,” she said. “Since then, I have been working hard at school every day, and school is very important to me. It’s the place where I learn, where I improve … Sometimes students feel scared. They are worried what could happen to them, to their families or to their community. When we feel scared, it makes it hard for us to focus, to learn or to feel safe at school. School should be a place where every student feels safe and supported.
According to Maura McInerney, the legal director at the Education Law Center, a nonprofit advocacy organization in Pennsylvania, she is unaware of any incidents of ICE agents trying to enter schools in Pennsylvania, but said federal agents have been spotted near schools in multiple parts of the commonwealth.
The fear that creates, she said, has already impacted attendance, particularly among students from immigrant families.
While the bills would not stop immigration enforcement near schools, she said she hoped they provided peace of mind for students and families concerned about the activity reaching schools themselves or places where students board buses.
“We have repeatedly heard from allies and community members about the fear and uncertainty that grip everyday interactions,” McInerney said. “Tragically the simple act of attending school has been disrupted by these very circumstances. Schools should be a safe haven where every child feels welcome.”
She cited a survey of more than 600 high school principals across the country, where nearly two-thirds reported students from immigrant families missed school in 2025 due to fears of federal immigration enforcement.
While ICE holds that it does not conduct immigration enforcement operations on school grounds, last year, the agency revoked “protected space” designations for previously protected areas like schools and churches.
Judy Heath, a retired school social worker who spent most of her career in lower Bucks County, said she’d seen the effect fear of immigration enforcement can have on students, and worked with a grassroots group in Montgomery County to help officials create a welcoming resolution.
“Sadly, heightened immigration enforcement can impact school attendance,” Heath said. “The legitimate fear that ICE can show up as children are waiting at bus stops, or ICE can show up on school grounds, playgrounds or school entrances — these places that had been, but are no longer, protected from ICE. And we know the detrimental impact that school absences and stress can have on the future of our children, including their academic performance, educational achievements and mental and physical health.”
Despite aiding in the creation of local policy in her home county, Heath called for statewide guidance for all school districts. She said even in districts that have already created their own policies, confusion over how to enforce or communicate them can make them ineffective.
Sen. Katie Muth (D-Montgomery), the Senate bill’s sponsor, said a number of districts have already enacted policies like what’s laid out in her legislation. But she still believes a statewide law is necessary to ensure similar protections for immigrant students across the commonwealth
“Having it as a state bill, it would take a lot of political pressure off of districts that want to do this, but also fear having a lot of unnecessary and aggressive public comment at their school board meetings,” she said.
She added that her district, the 44th Senate District, includes parts of Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties. And she said she’s heard from teachers about immigration enforcement affecting their students’ families across the area.
“If you think that this just happens — these ICE raids and people literally being kidnapped — is just a city issue, or is just an issue in certain parts of the state, Senate District 44 [includes] parts of three counties,” she said. “The number of times I’ve received phone calls from teachers whose parents were detained after dropping kids off from school is becoming quite a high number. … Whether they’re immigrant children or not is irrelevant. There are children watching this happen, and their friends don’t come back to class, and they’re just gone.”
