{"id":78843,"date":"2026-01-29T10:27:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=78843"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:27:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:27:53","slug":"in-east-san-jose-navigating-parent-engagement-amid-fears-of-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=78843","title":{"rendered":"In East San Jose, Navigating Parent Engagement Amid Fears of ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Li Lovett<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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AI image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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SAN JOSE, Calif.<\/strong> \u2014 It\u2019s nearly 8 AM as parents drop their children off at Jos\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez Alpha School, named after the first Latino astronaut. In a school with a majority Latino population, the buzz of activity is a familiar sight, and the walls are filled with children\u2019s art and contest submissions for \u201cWinter around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

For parents, there are workshops to support healthy digital habits, a parent group, Padres Unidos to \u201csupport our school\u2019s growth,\u201d and a Cafecito or coffee chat that the principal holds with families.<\/p>\n

Yet beneath the daily hum and bustle at this urban school in East San Jose is a community ready to respond.<\/p>\n

Enrollment declines<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Soon after Trump assumed the presidency in January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rolled back protections for \u201csensitive areas,\u201d allowing federal immigration agents to target sites once considered off limits. These include places of worship, courthouses and schools.<\/p>\n

Subsequent high profile and highly militarized raids in communities across the country have fueled a wave of fear in immigrant communities, prompting a retreat from public spaces.<\/p>\n

In Los Angeles, which saw large-scale immigration enforcement operations starting in June of last year, families too afraid to leave home began to rely on volunteer organizations for food delivery services. Los Angeles Unified School District, meanwhile, saw a\u00a0sharp drop in newcomer enrollment<\/a>, a decline experts tied to stepped up ICE operations.<\/p>\n

Officials with Alpha Schools acknowledged\u00a0a dip\u00a0<\/a>in attendance last year following high profile raids in Los Angeles, the Central Valley and along California\u2019s Central Coast. Parents in this mostly Latino community, however, say they are working to stay engaged with their kids\u2019 educational needs even as they navigate this new and highly fraught landscape.<\/p>\n

Studies<\/a>\u00a0have consistently shown that parent engagement in their children\u2019s education is a primary factor in student success.<\/p>\n

Rising uncertainty<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Veronica Carillo is the mother of three children, all of whom attend two Alpha Public Schools, a charter school network of four schools across San Jose. \u201cYou do feel the uncertainty of what is going to happen. You are at work\u2026 and you don\u2019t know what to expect when you come to pick up your children or when you leave them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carillo says that one of her children is in a class with students who are predominantly from Central America. Their parents have been too afraid to come pick up their kids, she said. \u201cI also have neighbors who don\u2019t go out for the same reason,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Bianni Pacheco, who came from Mexico two years earlier, says it is important for children to be aware of the issues, but without raising alarms when information is spread too hastily.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt worries me, sometimes, to see families who suddenly hear something or information that is sometimes exaggerated,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are families in my son\u2019s school who, when they heard that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] was here, they didn\u2019t attend school, and it was worrying, because in the end it wasn\u2019t information that was verified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepped up enforcement<\/strong><\/h2>\n

San Jose and neighboring cities in the Bay Area have been spared the large-scale enforcement operations in places like Los Angeles, Chicago and now Minneapolis. But targeted arrests, including one at a\u00a0well-known community center for day laborers<\/a>\u00a0in September, has left residents shaken.<\/p>\n

San Jose is set to host the Super Bowl on February 8. Statements from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem suggest the city and neighboring communities will see stepped up enforcement up to and during the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeeping calm is the most important thing,\u201d said Nelly Gutierrez, a parent and community engagement coordinator with Alpha Schools. The school network has partnered with SIREN, a community-based non-profit that has helped lead a series of Know Your Rights workshops for families.<\/p>\n

For Soledad Rodriguez, parent of a high school student at Alpha\u2019s Blanca Alvarado School, such workshops have been critical. \u201cResources are my best friend,\u201d said Rodriguez. \u201cEspecially with my family, I am always talking to them about programs where they can get more information, educate themselves, be together in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Gutierrez acknowledges it is difficult to anticipate what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

Congress approved $75 billion more for ICE on top of the $10 billion base funding when it passed President Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill last summer. With more than 12,000 new agents and expanding detention facilities, ICE is expected to continue to expand operations nationwide, targeting largely Democratic-led cities and states.<\/p>\n

\u2018Living our normal lives\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Public opinion, meanwhile, appears to be turning against the agency. In a\u00a0New York Times\/Sienna poll<\/a>\u00a063% of registered voters said ICE tactics have gone too far. The poll was conducted after the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis of Renee Nicole Good on Jan 7. Two weeks later, on Jan 25 immigration agents shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a VA hospital nurse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are very worrying, what\u2019s happening in other states,\u201d said Rodriguez. \u201cI personally have seen families that have been affected,\u201d she added, describing how her relatives\u2014who are U.S. citizens\u2014now carry their passports when they leave home for fear of being stopped by immigration agents. \u201cThat affected me a great deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her part, Carillo says she and her partner have made preparations to ensure their three children will be safe in case they are detained. \u201cWe all have to have a plan B for tomorrow,\u201d she said. \u201cIf something happens to us, we already know who our children are going to stay with and what our children can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back at Jos\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez, as parent Maria Vargas sees her two children off, she voices a common sentiment among many parents in this community. \u201cWe need to continue attending our meetings, our community events, our school events,\u201d she said, \u201cand living our normal lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviews for this story were conducted by Celina Rodriguez<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByLi Lovett Jan 28, 2026 AI...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-opinion","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78844,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78843\/revisions\/78844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}