Students in Head Start are anxious about immigration, survey finds
Children in Head Start programs in several states, including Washington, are feeling the impact of increased immigration enforcement, according to a new multistate survey of more than 200 providers who offer the federally funded early learning program.
Head Start providers are reporting decreased attendance, high anxiety and increased behavior challenges in kids, according to a survey released Tuesday that was conducted in April by Head Start associations in Washington, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The survey collected responses from 277 Head Start directors, staff and some parents in those and four other states - California, Florida, Virginia and West Virginia.
Head Start serves children from low-income families with early learning and support services, which are free for families who qualify. In Washington, roughly 15,000 children under age 6 access Head Start annually.
Some Washington Head Start providers told The Seattle Times they are delivering diapers and food to families who are fearful of leaving the house and supporting families who need help with immigration cases. One provider said they have begun offering phone calls between parents and children to assuage fears that a parent might be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the school day.
Joel Ryan, executive director of Washington's Head Start association, said in a statement that the Trump administration's "aggressive ICE actions are creating fear, trauma, and instability for some of our nation's most vulnerable young children."
"The Head Start program is there for all," Ryan said in an interview. "We don't check anybody's status. We really see ourselves as a safe haven where we're providing critical early learning, and in some cases, social services to families who are in need."
The survey arrives as Congress is debating billions in funding for immigration enforcement - a key point of contention, especially since the administration's aggressive tactics in Minnesota resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal immigration agents earlier this year.
In January 2025, the Trump administration rescinded guidance that had discouraged immigration authorities from making arrests at "sensitive" places, including preschools, schools, churches and hospitals.
"This action empowers the brave men and women in (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens - including murderers and rapists - who have illegally come into our country," a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said at the time. "Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest."
There have been high-profile incidents of immigration arrests at daycares, including outside one in Issaquah in October. Washington's Head Start association and other advocates want Congress and the Trump administration to reestablish Head Start and other early learning sites as sensitive locations.
Washington legislation that would have barred early learning providers, schools and certain other settings from allowing immigration enforcement to enter nonpublic areas of their premises without a judicial warrant or court order did not make it through this year's session.
About half of Head Start program leaders in the states surveyed, 52%, said there had been at least one instance of ICE activity near their program within the past 12 months. Most occurred in surrounding neighborhoods and nearby; 3% reported immigration enforcement activity at their Head Start site.
The ripple effects from heightened immigration enforcement are among many issues facing Head Start, a decades-old federal early learning program, which has also dealt with challenges with the federal payment system and the contraction of the federal workforce that oversees it in the year and a half since President Donald Trump's second term began.
His administration has also sought, unsuccessfully so far, to bar undocumented people from accessing Head Start.
Fear and worry around immigration enforcement have also affected the early education sector more broadly. In Washington, more than a quarter of early educators are immigrants, according to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.
The survey found that 78% of Head Start staff reported attendance dropping due to immigration enforcement actions.
Missing school can mean more than just missed learning for students, as children also receive developmental screenings, like hearing and vision tests, through Head Start. Children who aren't in class may not have opportunities for early intervention.
Head Start teachers surveyed said children are fearful and anxious, with 47% of respondents reporting changes in children's behavior, including kids acting withdrawn from unfamiliar adults and having more frequent tantrums, and children worrying that a parent could be taken away. They also reported that children were afraid of playing outside.
About a quarter of parents reported changing their daily drop-off and pickup routines due to immigration enforcement. More parents are requesting transportation for their kids to avoid exposure and are avoiding opportunities to engage with teachers at pickup and drop-off, and with other families.
"Family engagement has decreased due to multiple raids within the community," one staff member reported in the survey. "Parents are scared to step out (of) their house and (are) in fear of being detained."
Children are also taking in the rhetoric around them, making references to ICE in play, teachers reported.
One Head Start staffer said that on four separate occasions, "white children have told Latino children in their classroom that either the police were coming to shoot them or telling them that they were going to report them and have them sent away."
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