On January 20 and 21, 2025, President Trump declared a national emergency and issued several executive orders on immigration. The declaration and executive orders address “enhanced vetting” of visa applicants, birthright citizenship, border security, refugee programs, etc. With this imperative information in mind, it raises countless concerns all over the country. More specifically, its impact on the individuals in Francis Lewis tied to these executive orders.
“My issue with it is that it doesn’t seem like they’re following through the process and allowing people to have their day in court to determine whether or not they truly should be deported,” English teacher and dean Ms. Silva said. “Initially that’s what it was, it was popularized or repeated in all the messages. It was like, ‘We’re gonna get the bad guy out of the country,’ but it seems that being bad can also be equated with using your first amendment rights to freedom of speech. That can be considered criminal now.”
ICE raids have been gradually becoming heinous to the families who are going to be impacted. In doing so, they should be able to have backup or emergency plans in case ICE raids approach their door.
“I think that a lot of students and their families have actually sat down to talk about plans,” ENL teacher Ms. Guzman said. “‘What would be the plan in case something happens?’ And, that is being proactive instead of reactive so a lot of them are kind of discussing the idea that if something happens to their parents, would their parents move back with their parents? So a lot of them are just having that in mind, making sure they have money saved in case something happens.”
The ongoing spread of enforcement has had alarming effects on students’ families. It has eventually led to immense awareness of the teachers at Francis Lewis. Many students have been sharing what they know from social media about these events.
“I did hear about ICE, immigration, all the things during social media,” an anonymous freshman student explained. “When I was scrolling through short videos, I watched some videos about them. I think I watched most of those ICE videos on RedNote, like the Chinese social media platform and Instagram, these two social media platforms.”
Junior student Emilie Coot discussed the perplexities of social media and their questionable publications. Additionally, some opinions were shared about these actions of the government, the president, etc.
“I mainly see it through Twitter. I’ve seen the White house post like a deportation ASMR?” Coot questioned. “Which is very messed up, and through the media. I feel like what I mainly watch it’s mainly like talking about how Trump’s doing is completely wrong when it comes to the constitution. The immigrants with the case with the Supreme Court talking about naturalized citizen rights, and being born here, not anchoring these kids, but students of immigrants. Kids of immigrants who are not documented. I know they’re trying to tackle it.”
Jojo Lin Zheng, a high school junior student, speaks out on the ICE raids taking place in areas near Francis Lewis.
“I think it’s really horrible,” Zheng elicits. “I actually can’t believe that they actually started doing that. At the start, there was a sensitive location policy where ICE agents couldn’t be near schools, hospitals, or churches. They revoked that policy and said that ICE is actually allowed in those areas, which is actually outrageous. Schools are supposed to be a safe location for immigrants.”
The topic of immigration status has been taught to ESL students in the past. An important policy called DACA was the very heart of it all. It allowed students to apply to college or other institutions of learning without the thought of discussing their immigration status.
“In past years I taught directly on this topic about what to do for undocumented immigration/immigrants,” an anonymous ENL teacher elucidated. “And at the time students felt that students could share their status with me. Now they don’t feel as safe in the classrooms. They’re more reluctant to share things like if they are undocumented or if they have an immigration status at all. I also would not teach that topic anymore.”
The importance of students’ national security has been valued more than ever. With DACA being the heart of it, the journey for impacted students to apply for college sparks severe struggle and anxiety.
“The last time there was the same commander in chief, he repealed DACA,” the anonymous ENL teacher said. “So, the students no longer have this as a support. So, my students were really worried that this was gonna happen again. I don’t know if I can tell them to try to apply for DACA or research it because everything changes so quickly and we don’t have a lot of information. It’s important that we are able to give students a feeling that it’s safe, especially in school.”
Many students resonate with the ongoing issues regardless of their citizenship due to the fact that their families are immigrants which makes the impact more rooted within their families.
“Essentially my grandmother’s an immigrant,” senior student Jovianna Roopchand said. “I grew up in a family where hard work was prioritized, sacrifice was prioritized, my grandmother came over from Trinidad, she didn’t have any college degree or anything like that but she raised her children. If it wasn’t for her coming here to America, my mom would not have had the opportunities she had. I would not have had the opportunities that I had. I thought for me, America was always the place to be, I even have people that live in Trinidad that are my family members that always look up to me for being an American citizen and for being born here.”
The recent commotions and increased anxiety have left people confused on their own rights and what they can and cannot do. This sparked conflict amongst the ideologies people used to have in comparison to today.
“There’s increased anxiety,” Ms. Silva expressed. “The first couple days I had some students that didn’t come to school because they were the only ones that were citizens. So, they were fearful that ICE might come to their house and take their parents. There was one person who I had spoken to who anticipated that their parents were able to get citizenship now that Trump is president because they had tried for many years and are here doing the proper steps to get citizenship and haven’t yet. The person that they wanted to get citizenship is a hardworking person. I think now that person is fearful of what could happen and fearful also because it’s one thing to be deported. But if they are storing people in places where they don’t follow human rights. That to me is horrifying.”
Subsequently, students who fear the future for the United States may find themselves in a difficult position when it comes to the ongoing citizenship crisis.
“It’s like this entire mindset is changing, instead of being a privilege, instead of it being a blessing and opportunity, it’s like all of these things are being taken away simply because of a person’s skin color, simply because they’re from another country,” Roopchand elucidated. “And it makes me question, you know, ‘What would make a person want to live here anymore?’ It really makes me question where I should go, where would I fit in? Because obviously, it’s not here.”
The immigration process has been more excruciating now than ever. It sparks various struggles, especially when it comes to the stress and difficulty for people who desire that permission.
“I also think what they’re doing is morally wrong,” junior student Andrew Vil claimed. “What they’re doing is morally wrong. It’s very unconstitutional as well, deporting people, especially with the mass deportations situation, deporting people without due process. I’ve heard there actually have been legal citizens that have been deported just because ICE assumed they were illegal citizens”
Additionally, Zheng offers resourceful tips on her Instagram page, “legally.you” dedicated to helping students by spreading awareness on their legal rights.
“You guys can read about your own rights and know what you’d be able to do in case something like [ICE] were to ever happen,” Zheng exclaimed. “Online, there’s also ICE blue cards specifically designed if ICE were able to show up at your home. You can print those out and give them to your family. When I saw that Tiktok about [ICE] being so close to where I live. None of the people that I know know about any of this. None of them know what to do in case this were to ever happen to them. Which is why I wanted to start [legally.you].”
These events have inflicted an imperative impact on our society. Furthermore, it has brought significant awareness and unity to the school. With more people spreading awareness, it’s more important now than ever that our community can support each other in these times.
“I think one of the things that my students brought up that I thought was beautiful is that this has brought our community closer together,” Ms. Guzman emphasized. “We seem to be united and I’m saying that in the sense that we are kind of protecting each other now. Not just hispanic people with hispanic people or immigrants altogether, but other people that see our value and see the tremendous contribution that we provide in this country. It seems like we see a lot of support as well, unity and protection so that’s something nice to see.”
