On the morning after immigration raids swept through California’s Central Valley on January 7, 2025, classrooms sat half empty. Daily absences among immigrant students spiked by 22 percent—the equivalent of 725,000 lost learning days in just the first two months of 2025 alone. Similar effects reverberated across the country, with teachers reporting increased absenteeism, slipping grades, and visible anxiety among immigrant children. America’s ongoing immigration crisis had finally broken through the schoolhouse gate.
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