Fewer students are enrolling in schools in Chicago amid President Donald Trump‘s ICE raids in the liberal city, according to officials.
As part of his agenda, Trump has repeatedly said his administration will bring in Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Democratic-run cities in a bid to crack down on crime and violence.
Recently, his target has been on the Illinois city, despite major push back from Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
As a result of ICE officials storming into Chicago, there has been a drastic drop in student enrollment across the city.
On the 20th day of the new school year, enrollment fell to 316,224 students, Interim Chief Executive Officer Macquline King informed the Chicago Board of Education Thursday.
Compared to last year, that number is down by 9,000 students and more than 100,000 under the count over the past 20 years, Bloomberg reported.
The decline in one of the largest school districts in the US has spanned across all grade levels and has also impacted the economically disadvantaged, those with temporary living accommodations and English-language learners, per the outlet.
King did not specifically say why the decline has happened, but acknowledged the immigration crackdown in the city creating challenges for families across the city.
Student enrollment fell to 316,224 in Chicago public schools, according to officials. The number has dropped at the same time as Trump sending ICE agents to raid the city. (Pictured: ICE protestors sitting outside the Broadview Processing Center on Friday)
Trump (pictured Friday in Washington D.C.) has promised to bring ICE agents into Democratic cities plagued by crime and violence, and Chicago is one of them
A major factor contributing to the drop has been the ‘sharp decline’ in the district’s school-age population because birth rates have fallen in the last two decades, according to Hal Woods, chief of policy for Kids First Chicago – an advocacy group.
Although ‘enrollment declines have also been particularly acute in the past year’, Woods told the outlet it is unclear whether families have fled the city or are just not enrolling their children in public schools.
The largest decline was recorded amongst students who identify as LatinX and black, who make up a majority of the overall population in Chicago Public Schools, a district spokesperson said.
This year alone, the enrollment from the LatinX population fell 4.5 percent to 146,862, while black student enrollment dropped 2.6 percent to 108,380 students, per the spokesperson.
During the meeting on Thursday, King noted that the district is also struggling financially as it faces continuous setbacks in aid from the state, city and the federal government.
Specifically, she said the federal government is threatening to refuse giving the district $12 million because of its policies that support black and transgender students.
‘I know that this continues to be a time of great fear and anxiety for many of our students and families but I want to emphasize again that CPS is fully prepared and that our schools remain the best and safest place for children in Chicago,’ King said.
‘Except in the rarest circumstances, CPS will not share student information with any federal agent and no federal agent will be allowed to access our schools.’
ICE agents are seen trying to quell protestors at the Broadview facility
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (pictured September 9) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have made it clear they are not on board with Trump’s move into their city
Earlier this month Trump threatened the big city with a ‘Chipocalypse’ ahead of ICE raids.
Trump, 79, took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to post a meme about himself, where he wrote: ‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning.
‘Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.’
Trump recently rebranded the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
The White House then reposted it on X with three helicopter emojis.
Governor JB Pritzker responded to Trump’s post on X, writing: ‘The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.
‘This is not a joke. This is not normal.
‘Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.’
A protestor is seen outside the Broadview facility on Saturday as Trump’s administration brings in ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ to crackdown on immigration issues in the city
Mayor Brandon Johnson also responded, writing: ‘The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution.
‘We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.’
The president’s threats came as ICE started to ready a raid on the Windy City after Trump said he selected it for the next federal military takeover.
The Department War asked the Pentagon to have access to Naval Station Great Lakes – the largest military base in Illinois – to base the operation, The Washington Post reported.
The request said that around 250 federal agents and 140 vehicles would utilize the base.
National Guard troops could also be sent in to assist the effort, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
Equipment and personnel started arriving at the naval base earlier this month. One MAGA radio personality has branded it the beginning of ‘the siege of Chicago.’
Chicago isn’t the only city that’s been targeted by Trump’s administration, as the commander-in-chief ordered troops be sent to Portland, Oregon on Saturday.
Trump, who said the blue city is ‘war ravaged’ and besieged by left wing ‘domestic terrorists’, said the move was necessary to protect ICE facilities supposedly under attack by Antifa, a loosely organized far-left movement that is against fascism.
‘I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth , to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
Trump also said he is authorizing ‘full force, if necessary’, but did not further elaborate.
There have been numerous protests at the ICE building in South Portland over the last several months.
