‘Every child welcome’ in SLC schools, district says in response to Trump immigration orders

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District responded Tuesday to recent executive orders and policy changes by President Donald Trump on the subject of immigration, offering resources to its students, families and staff.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration said it overturned a policy that’s been in effect since 2011. Federal immigration agencies will now be allowed to make arrests in schools, churches and hospitals.

The change was enacted the same day Utah lawmakers convened for the 2025 legislative session, where the immigration topic is expected to be hot, with 10 drafted measures already in the works.

“I have heard from some of our schools that parents have expressed concerns,” said Yandary Chatwin, Salt Lake City School District spokeswoman.

The district wanted to calm the fears of some parents immediately.

In a letter sent Wednesday, the district reminded staff of the procedure when an immigration official “requests access to a student,” implemented by the school board: “the district employee receiving that request should immediately contact the district’s general counsel.”

Further, the letter addressed families, listing “important things” to keep in mind:

1.    Please know that your child – and every child, regardless of immigration status – is welcome in our schools. Undocumented children and young adults still have the same right to attend public primary and secondary schools as U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

2.    For many reasons, it is important for parents/guardians to make sure their own contact information and the contact information for their student’s emergency contacts is up to date. This can be done by speaking with the secretary at your student’s school. Each student should have at least two emergency contacts. These individuals do not need to be family members; they can be any trusted adult designated by the student’s parent/guardian.

3.    Our schools and school district do NOT collect information related to any student or family members’ immigration status. Because we do not collect this information, it is not information we can provide to any law enforcement agency.

4.    Salt Lake City School District public schools will not initiate engagement with federal immigration authorities for the purpose of sharing student information.

5.    We have counselors at every one of our schools who are available to talk with your student if they experience any anxiety, stress, or fears related to the federal policy changes.

The district said it was committed to “providing an equitable, inclusive and supportive learning environment to every student.”

The letter was seemingly an attempt to soothe some expressed nervousness from within communities after the change.

“They’re scared now to send their children to school,” said Jonathan Shaw, an immigration attorney, “because they’re interpreting it as they’re going to go to the school and find my kids, and then my kids aren’t coming home from school.”

Shaw doesn’t think the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or any agency, wants the media spectacle of a major roundup at a school or church. But he referred to a previous case where a woman lived in a Utah church for three years while waiting for her immigration case to be settled.

“The cases that we’ve seen are more high-profile cases where somebody would have a final removal order,” he said. “They’re fleeing immigration officials, and then they’ll go and hide in one of these locations.”

Shaw said he believes the policy change is targeted at extreme cases or “high-value targets.”

“Maybe this person has committed crimes … if a person like that were to go to a school or to a hospital or to a church o try to hide and find refuge and stay in the United States,” he said, “they’ll no longer respect that.”

Utah immigration attorneys report huge increase in calls over deportation concerns

On Monday, Trump signed an order in the Oval Office declaring a national emergency on the southern border, and allocating Pentagon resources to build the border wall. One of the first actions taken by the Trump administration was to deactivate an app that helps migrants claim asylum with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

In another order signed by Trump Monday, birthright citizenship will be challenged by prohibiting federal agencies from granting certain documents normally provided to a U.S. citizen to children born after 30 days of the order. Though the move is likely to face legal challenges and is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court, many concerns have been voiced locally and on social media.

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This story was updated with additional reporting after its initial publication.