Estimates put the number of K-12 students who did not have legal status in the U.S. at roughly 620,000 in 2021, about 1 percent of public school students. Since the start of this new school year, education leaders and immigration advocacy groups have highlighted the challenges that schools and families are facing in light of ICE sweeps in their communities. Speakers during recent panels hosted by America’s Voice and Advancement Project, an immigrants’ rights organization and a civil rights organization, respectively, discussed what they believe should be schools’ role in ensuring parents and students feel safe. “We prevented DHS agents from coming into our schools to talk to a first grader and second grader. “Where those dollar figures add up is there are fewer teachers, there are fewer programs and there's less funding for students overall.