As School Begins, Queens Families Keep Watch for ICE

On the first day of the New York City school year, ICE agents detained a father in Corona, Queens, who was running morning errands before he was due to drive his son to school, according to Las Doñas executive director Tony Alarcón; the arrest took place about a five-minute walk from a school. ICE arrests in New York City peaked in July 2026, the highest monthly total of the second Trump administration, and at least 2,153 people have been arrested in Queens since January 2025. The New York City Department of Education does not permit staff to let federal agents, including ICE, into schools without a judicial warrant, and state law now designates schools as sensitive locations, but advocates say families remain exposed on the way to and from school. The Department of Education did not respond to Documented’s request for comment on protections outside school grounds.