What is happening with ICE?

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal agency that is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agency was first created in 2003 to help enforce federal immigration and customs laws. In recent months, the organization has been making headlines across the nation because of its major expansion and increased usage across the country, due to changes in federal leadership.

In recent weeks, Chicago and its surrounding suburbs have been the epicenter of ICE raids and detainments. These incidents can be found locally near the St. Charles community.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, ICE arrived at an affiliate school of the St. Charles School District—Elgin Community College (ECC) to detain a student. Not much else is known to the public about the incident. But an ECC student, who chose to remain anonymous, was able to provide a bit more context: “They were at Building K [of the ECC campus] and they allegedly followed the student all the way inside and into their classroom before detaining them,” she said. “[The incident] sparked a lot of fear and many people stopped coming to school […] the question about what really is ‘private property’ on the campus [arose, because] it’s technically a public campus and anyone is legally allowed on and inside the premises, [therefore] the ECC police couldn’t do anything because they can’t interfere with federal detainments/affairs.”
This incident is just one line in a large list of places that ICE has been conducting enforcement operations. Many other incidents are occurring in neighboring suburbs of St. Charles, including West Chicago, where a now viral video of Illinois Democratic Senator Karina Villa of the 25th District runs down a neighborhood street, yelling for people to stay in their homes, and confronting ICE agents who claimed they were conducting enforcement operations. “This is my city!” She yelled, “Take off your masks!
Social media and the internet have given a much more accessible way to view ICE interactions. This is just one of many videos that have gone viral about ICE, with others showcasing controversial practices used by ICE, including sitting upon people, pulling them by their hair, teargassing and taking away children’s parents.
ICE detention centers can be found in all 50 states, according to an infographic by Business Insider. Illinois has 41 ICE detention facilities, with one of those being the very infamous Broadview, Illinois, facility.
There has also been criticism regarding the mask usage by ICE officers, for concealing their identity, citing concerns that federal law enforcement wearing masks makes it easier for them to evade responsibility for misconduct.
The methods that ICE has been using have been coming under fire and stoking fear across the nation.

What is D303 doing to protect students and staff?

ICE operations have raised questions about where and when agents may conduct operations. This leaves the question of “what would happen if ICE showed up at East?” To better understand this and the protections and policies put into place to protect students at East and in the St. Charles School District as a whole, D303 administrators were inquired. 

“Anyone who were to come into our building would go into our tank [vestibule],” explained East’s principal, James Richter, ”they would have to be asked why they’re here, and should anyone identify themselves as a member of law enforcement, demanding or requesting to speak with a student, staff member or a member of the administration such as myself would be the one who would then greet them, collect the information from them that they are seeking and then use our channels within our district to make sure that I’m communicating who’s here, what they’re here for and what documentation they have to back up their reasoning for being here,” said Richter. “This would then help them to get some guidance on which of the administrators would be working with that person.”

Richter went on to discuss that certain pieces of documentation are needed for ICE to gain access to someone in the building, “depending on what that documentation looks like and the sort of legal weight it carries, that would then determine what our next steps are,” said Richter.

He went on to emphasize how the school has to comply with the law, but the school also has to make sure that the people who are coming here are also acting in compliance with the law. He explained how the school is responsible for you, and so it is the school’s job to give the same protection that you would get under the law.

In contrast with ECC, East has a visitor policy, which means that you can’t just walk on school grounds without permission. Richter explained how if the building had an emergency and the St. Charles Police or Fire Department needed to come in, they would be allowed in because “that’s an agreement we have with them, but it’s for very specific reasons and things, they don’t just have blanket access to something.” The St. Charles Police and Fire Department would still have to check in through door one, state who they are and why they’re here in the vestibule, before entering the building. “ECC is an open campus, so you can walk into any building pretty much any time for anything […] anyone who’s using our facilities, which include our outdoor grounds, is [technically] supposed to have permission.”

The Director of Communications and Community Relations of D303, Michael Vaughn, provided documents with guidance that were sent out to D303 schools detailing what to do in case of potential interactions with ICE. Amongst the documents, there is a list that provides talking points on ICE for parent conversations and resources (see list below).

1. We understand the fear and anxiety you’re feeling, and we’re working closely with the district to provide you with the best support we can.
2. All students in our country have the right to equal access to a public education regardless of citizenship status, and that has not changed.
3. Schools do not ask for or keep any information regarding our students’ and families’ citizenship status.
4. What has changed is that schools and school bus stops are no longer considered “sensitive locations” for immigration enforcement. Federal immigration (ICE) officials can now visit these locations to enforce immigration laws.
5. We do not know how likely that is to happen in our schools.
6. We know that this uncertainty creates anxiety, and we will share with our families any official, updated information that we receive.
7. If immigration officials come to our school, we will contact you immediately.
8. Please ensure you have provided updated information on your child’s emergency contacts so that we have complete details on the full list of trusted people who can support your child.
9. We will follow laws that protect your students’ rights and information.
10. We will work closely with our district leaders and legal counsel to protect your family’s rights and uphold the law.
11. We will be thorough and diligent in verifying identification credentials and required documentation for school visits or requests for student information.
12. We understand you may want to keep your child home from school because of this uncertainty. However, we encourage you to send your child to school. It is important that they continue to learn in a warm and welcoming environment. If your child does not attend or becomes chronically absent, we will follow our standard attendance protocols.
13. We cannot provide legal advice to our families, but we can direct you to community resources.

In D303’s guidance for interactions with ICE in District 303 schools, the district explains that the 1982 Supreme Court case, Plyler v. Doe, ruled that all students have a right to public education no matter of immigration status.

D303 has also provided guidelines for the front office staff. Amongst the front desk guidelines, they must not allow anyone into the building until they indicate who they are and the purpose of their visit. After/if they are let into the vestibule, identification must be shown. If the visitor is an ICE agent, the front office staff are told to notify the principal of the building immediately. If there are concerns or disputes, they are told to notify administration and security. The district also provides a form to be filled out by staff after an interaction with ICE. The form asks for details such as whether there were witnesses, where and when the incident occurred, the name and badge number of the ICE agent(s), among other things.

General information that D303 provided included the fact that there are two types of warrants: judicial (issued by a judicial court and signed by a state or federal judge) and administrative (issued by the DHS and signed by an immigration officer or immigration judge). “Except under limited circumstances, schools are not required to disclose student information to immigration agents unless presented with a lawful judicial court order or subpoena [warrant],” A judicial warrant (not as common) allows entry into schools; on the other hand, an administrative warrant does not allow entry into schools. The D303 guidance for interactions with ICE also emphasized that “Schools and school bus stops are no longer considered ‘sensitive locations,’ nor are they protected areas under DHS policies.”

How are communities reacting to these attacks?

People across the nation have become increasingly worried about the tactics used by the federal government, which has led to widespread protests with the slogan “No Kings,” suggesting that our current leadership is abusing its power.
Protestors have also unified outside the Broadview, Illinois, ICE detention facility, where protestors, federal and state law enforcement have clashed, leading to several arrests.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, over seven million people across the nation attended No Kings protests. This was an increase from the last round of No Kings protests back in June by more than two million people, according to NBC. In addition to that, over 250,000 of the seven million people attending the No Kings protest came from Downtown Chicago alone. Many Chicagoland suburbs also participated in many smaller No Kings protests. Geneva, IL—a neighboring city and sister city of St. Charles—was one of those places.

For many, civic engagement has helped bring hope to our nation.