Children, schools face renewed fears over heightened immigration enforcement
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(WASHINGTON) — In classrooms across the country, children of immigrants are facing heightened fears over news that immigration enforcement officers are now allowed to enter schools, according to educators.
While it’s unclear if immigration raids have actually taken place in schools, the lifting of the prohibition itself by the Trump administration and the highly publicized enforcement activities elsewhere have triggered anxieties in the classroom, educators say.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not responded to ABC News requests for comment on whether ICE raids have taken place at schools since the implementation of the new policy. However, the end of schoolhouse restrictions on ICE activity and a false alarm incident at a Chicago elementary school has put community members on edge.
The sounds of sirens or a routine lockdown drill can set children on edge, stoking fears about what lies ahead for their families or friends, according to Denise Sheehan, a bilingual teacher in New Mexico.
Sheehan, who works in a school district about 40 minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border, said some students stop coming to school altogether; for others, it’s a challenge for teachers to keep them focused or engaged in the day’s schoolwork when worries hover heavy over the students.
She said that students hear what’s going on in the news – and are racked with questions about raids or documentation, concepts some might not fully understand: “‘Am I going home to an empty house? What’s going to happen to me? Am I going to be here tomorrow? Is my family going to be here tomorrow?’” Sheehan recalled.
The Trump administration has publicized the arrests of thousands of immigrants by federal agents since the president took office, as well as revoking long-standing restrictions that thwarted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting raids on schools and other sensitive areas, such as churches. ICE is now allowed to make arrests in these so-called sensitive areas, but many local officials have made it clear that ICE must have a warrant to enter certain spaces.
In a statement touting the move, the Department of Homeland Security said, “criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
The statement continued, “The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
President Donald Trump made immigration a key focus of his campaign, promising mass deportation efforts targeting the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
However, these fears are not new. In fiscal year 2023, under President Joe Biden, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) conducted 170,590 administrative arrests, representing a 19.5% increase over the previous year, and more than any year of the first Trump presidency.
In the United States, more than 16.7 million people live with at least one undocumented family member – about 6 million of whom are children under the age of 18, according to past estimates from the American Immigration Council. Hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. are undocumented, according to research from Pew Research Center.
The threat of immigration enforcement has the potential to cause emotional, developmental, or economic challenges for millions of children who live day to day with the anxiety of deportation, according to many sources on the mental health of children impacted by immigration.
“Schools are not places that are open to the public. They’re limited in terms of access and that’s because we want to keep children safe so that they can focus on learning, they can focus on growing and developing and just living their lives as children,” said Nicholas Espíritu, the legal director of the National Immigration Law Center, in an interview.
In an online statement urging educators to know the rights of their students as well as their own, the National Education Association warned that mass immigration enforcement panic “will predictably harm school environments, including by causing increased absences, decreased student achievement, and parental disengagement.”
One study from Children found that there are higher rates of depression, anxiety, social isolation, stress, and aggression in children who live with an undocumented person or have a parent who has been deported.
Deportations and detention efforts send further shockwaves through immigrant communities, and “serve only to complete the trauma” facing undocumented communities, another study states.
Schools – once unauthorized targets for ICE – now play a central role in how children will face the potential threat. Some local officials have said they will “welcome” ICE agents into their schools, while others have urged the community to learn their rights ahead of any ICE encounters in school.
“Silence is not OK,” said Sheehan, a representative on the National Education Association Board of Directors, who has been collaborating with her fellow educators on how to respond ahead of any ICE activity in her schools. “During these times, we need to continue to inform our educators. We need to make sure that everybody’s aware of the resources that our district offers, and make sure that there’s a plan.”
From schools, to churches, to supermarkets, there is an absence of familiar faces, as community members say that some residents are staying out of sight for fear of law and immigration enforcement efforts.
“These are churchgoers. These are hardworking individuals. These are the parents of your children’s best friend at school, right? These are individuals that are living in fear,” immigration attorney Ana Alicia Huerta, granddaughter of famed labor rights leader Dolores Huerta, told ABC News.
For the past month, California resident Adriana, who asked to be identified by only her first name for privacy reasons, has been delivering food to families too scared to leave their homes. Walking to her car with a box of donated food, she describes meeting families with little ones who are scared of what is to come.
“Their kids – some of them, they have babies,” said Adriana. “They can’t go out and buy diapers, baby formula. They’re scared to come out.”
For Adriana, the decision to help the families is not about legal status: “It’s about humanity. It’s about our community. Sometimes you see faces, you see you’re not thinking, ‘Oh, this person is legal.’ ‘Oh, this person is not.’”
(NEW ORLEANS) — An Army veteran who was “hell-bent” on killing as many people as possible drove a rented pickup truck around a parked police car serving as a barricade and plowed through a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, leaving at least 15 dead and injuring dozens of others early Wednesday, city and federal officials said.
After mowing down numerous people over a three-block stretch on the famed thoroughfare while firing shots into the crowd, the suspect — identified by sources as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42 — allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told ABC News. Officers returned fire, killing Jabbar, a U.S.-born citizen from Texas, sources said. At least two police officers were injured, one by gunfire and the other when the officer was pinned by the truck, authorities said.
Althea Duncan, assistant special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans field office, said investigators do not believe Jabbar acted alone.
“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” Duncan said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates. That’s why we need the public’s help. We are asking if anybody had any interaction with Shamsud-Din Jabbar in the last 72 hours that you contact us.”
Addressing what he called “this heinous act” in a brief appearance before reporters Sunday night at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, President Biden said that the FBI told him that “mere hours before the attack, [Jabbar] posted videos on social media indicating that he’s inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill.”
Biden also said “law enforcement and the intelligence community” were investigating whether there was “any possible connection” between the New Orleans attack and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck Sunday outside of the Trump Las Vegas hotel.
“Thus far, there’s nothing to report on that score,” Biden said.
Biden also said that the suspect was “an American citizen, born in Texas. He served in the United States Army on active duty for many years. He also served in the Army Reserve, until a few years ago.”
The FBI is studying the videos President Biden referenced in his remarks, which the suspect appears to have recorded while driving from Texas to Louisiana, law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News.
The videos are dark so the suspect isn’t seen but he can be heard talking about his divorce and a desire to kill members of his family before ultimately deciding to carry out the attack on Bourbon Street, according to the law enforcement sources.
The suspect is also heard talking about ISIS, the sources said.
A spokesperson for the consulting firm Deloitte confirmed to ABC News that Jabbar worked for the company in a “staff-level role” since 2021.
“We are shocked to learn of reports today that the individual identified as a suspect had any association with our firm,” the statement said. “Like everyone, we are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing all we can to assist authorities in their investigation.”
A separate source at Deloitte confirmed to ABC News that Jabbar was still employed by the consulting firm as of Sunday morning and had the job title of “senior solution specialist.”
The FBI offices in New Orleans and Houston released statements late Wednesday announcing searches related to the New Orleans attack.
“FBI special agents and our law enforcement partners are currently conducting a number of court authorized search warrants in New Orleans and other states,” the FBI’s New Orleans field office said in a statement, adding that they planned to hand over the New Orleans crime scene to local authorities by Thursday morning.
Meanwhile the FBI in Houston posted on X that they and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office were “continuing a court-authorized search of a location near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive.”
“At this time, no arrests have been made, and FBI personnel will be at the scene for several more hours,” the post continued.
New Orleans police have reviewed surveillance video that appears to show several people planting potential explosive devices in advance of the vehicle attack, which led them to believe he was not “solely responsible,” sources said. Investigators are urgently working to identify the individuals who were seen on camera and take them into custody.
Duncan said Jabbar was an Army veteran. In addition to the assault rifle, Jabbar was allegedly armed with a handgun, sources told ABC News.
Authorities are also working to determine whether there may be a link between the New Orleans attack and a Tesla Cybertruck explosion on Wednesday outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada, which is being investigated as a possible act of terror, an official said.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the Cybertruck that exploded in Las Vegas was rented on Turo — the same app sources said was used to rent the pickup truck used in the deadly attack in New Orleans.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters that investigators are trying to determine whether there is a connection to the New Orleans attack.
“We are heartbroken by the violence perpetrated in New Orleans and Las Vegas, and our prayers are with the victims and families,” a Turo spokesperson said in a statement in response to an ABC News request for comment. “We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents.”
“We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the statement continued. “We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management, thanks to our world-class trust and safety technologies and teams that include experienced former law enforcement professionals.”
New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna released a statement late Wednesday afternoon that said “As of now, 15 people are deceased.”
“It will take several days to perform all autopsies. Once we complete the autopsies and talk with the next of kin, we will release the identifications of the victims,” McKenna’s statement continued.
Rep. Troy Carter, D-Louisiana, told ABC News earlier Wednesday afternoon that the number of people killed in the incident had risen from 10 to 15. He said another 25 people were hospitalized with injuries.
On Wednesday afternoon, the FBI in Houston and the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office, posted a message on social media that they are “currently conducting law enforcement activity near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive in north Houston.”
“We have secured a perimeter in that area and are asking people to avoid the area,” the notice said. “FBI Houston personnel and specialized teams will be on-site for several hours. This activity is related to this morning’s New Orleans attack, but due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, no further information can be provided.
Security bollards not working at the time
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said during Wednesday’s news conference that security bollards were not working at the time because they were in the process of being replaced for the upcoming Super Bowl. She confirmed that the suspect drove on the sidewalk to get around a police car blocking the intersection.
“We did indeed have a plan but the terrorist defeated it,” Kirkpatrick said.
Duncan said improvised explosives devices (IEDs) and other weapons were found inside the pickup truck. She said two additional IEDs were discovered in the French Quarter and rendered safe.
The IEDs found in and around the scene on Bourbon Street were apparently determined to be viable and investigators were looking for more in the city’s French Quarter, multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News. The FBI said two devices were found and rendered safe. Crude pipe bombs stuffed with coils and nails were found at the scene along with a grenade, sources said.
In a YouTube video posted in 2020, the suspected attacker said he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and spent a decade working in the U.S. military before becoming a realtor in the Houston area. His years in the military, he said in the video that has since been removed from YouTube, were spent working as a human resources and IT specialist.
It appears that the truck the suspect rented was spotted in Texas on Tuesday, but it was not clear if the suspect was in the vehicle at the time, according to a source citing preliminary law enforcement information. An ISIS flag was attached to the vehicle’s rear hitch, Duncan said, adding that the FBI is trying to assess the suspect’s connection to the terror groups.
The Sugar Bowl between the University of Georgia and Notre Dame has been postponed from Wednesday night to Thursday, Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley announced at Wednesday’s news conference. The game was set to kickoff Wednesday night at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, where police remain focused on securing the French Quarter after the vehicle ramming attack.
Jason Williams, the district attorney of Orleans Parrish, which includes New Orleans, told ABC News that investigators are conducting a grid search to determine if other explosive devices were planted.
New Orleans police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaco, Firearms and Explosives have cordoned a home believed to be an AirBnB in the St. Roch neighborhood about 2 miles from downtown. It was not immediately clear if the suspect is associated with the AirBnB rental.
Investigated as terror attack
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the horrific incident a “terrorist attack” and the FBI said it was being investigated as an act of terror. The bloodshed comes on the heels of a deadly vehicle ramming attack in Germany. Fears of such attacks were a growing concern among law enforcement as well as attacks by lone actors at winter holiday events.
Police Superintendent Kirkpatrick said the driver had attempted to kill as many people as possible. The truck used in the attack appeared to be a F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle.
“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said at a news conference early Wednesday.
The New Orleans Police Department said the attack occurred despite the force being “staffed 100%” for New Year’s Eve and the Sugar Bowl, a college football game played annually on New Year’s Day. An additional 300 officers were on duty from partner agencies, the police department said.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the attack and has been in touch with Cantrell to offer support, according to the White House.
“I will continue to receive updates throughout the day, and I will have more to say as we have further information to share,” Biden said in a statement. “In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”
President-elect Donald Trump posted a statement on his Truth Social platform, saying, “Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”
Local authorities asked the FBI for assistance early on Wednesday, a senior federal law enforcement source told ABC News. A command center was being set up, the source said. The FBI was set to lead the investigation.
‘Horrific act of violence’
“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Gov. Jeff Landry said, adding that his family was praying for the victims and first responders.
Witness Dan McFee said he had just walked out of his hotel to get an Uber and was standing on Canal Street near Bourbon Street, when he heard squealing tires and turned to see the white pickup truck turning onto Bourbon Street and heading right toward him and a female friend.
“It made a right-hand turn onto Bourbon and it was heading directly towards me and a female friend I had with me, and [I] basically wrapped my arms around her and threw ourselves to the right of the vehicle,” McFee told ABC News. “I don’t remember exactly if it hit me or some debris, but we were flown into the air and came down on the sidewalk. The vehicle did hit a gentleman that I was standing beside. While we were down on the ground, it appeared that he was breathing and then the woman behind him didn’t appear to be breathing and the vehicle continued down the road.”
Moments later, he said he heard gunshots.
Asked if he saw the driver’s face, McFee said, “All I could remember, and it’s replaying in my head, is seeing the front of the truck coming at us.”
McFee said he and his friend suffered bumps and bruises in the incident.
Asked if he saw the steel barricades up on Bourbon Street at the time of the incident, McFee said, “I don’t believe they were up. I didn’t see any that were up.”
“I was kind of surprised that the vehicle was able to get as far as it did just considering the amount of people that were on Bourbon Street,” McFee said. “They did have those metal gates that they were able to move back and forth. I don’t know if they were down just for the Uber drivers and the Lyft drivers to get through, but I don’t remember seeing them up.”
Witness Jimmy Cothran of New Orleans told ABC News that he and a friend were walking on Bourbon Street when the truck attack began. He said they ducked into a bar and within minutes, four frantic women pushed through security, rushed into the bar and hid under tables.
“When we got on the balcony, what we saw was insanity,” Cothran, a certified emergency medical technician, said. “I mean it was something out of a movie, the graphic nature of it. It was unbelievable. We instantly counted I’d saw 10 bodies, six clearly graphically deceased and the others yelling with no one around. Everyone had just cleared the street completely.”
Cothran said he tried to go out and help the injured but was stopped by security.
Another witness, who requested to be identified only as Paul S., told ABC News he was startled awake by the sound of what he initially thought was fireworks.
“Around 3:15 [a.m.], we heard a ‘pop, pop, pop, pop’ sound followed by a sound that sounded like fireworks going off, like big fireworks all at once,” Paul S. said. “Then it turned out that was the crash.”
He said he looked outside his hotel window and saw a chaotic scene, with bodies strewn on the street below.
“What I saw was, if you can imagine a street with brick and whatnot littered all around the sidewalk, and then there were bodies laid up next to garbage cans and people rushing to give aid,” Paul S. said.
He said he observed a man who had been thrown from his wheelchair lying on the ground next to the truck involved in in the attack writhing in pain.
“There was also a body underneath a scissor lift,” Paul S. said.
Truck rented through app
The Ford F-150 Lightning truck used in the attack was apparently rented through the Turo app — a car sharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck. Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI. He declined further comment.
Diaz wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.
“My husband rents cars through the Turo app. I can’t tell you anything else. I’m here with my kids, and this is devastating,” Dora Diaz said.
Preliminary information put together by law enforcement indicates the truck apparently involved in the New Orleans attack was observed Tuesday in north Harris County, Texas, a source briefed on the investigation told ABC Houston station KTRK. The truck was seen in Harris County around 10:15 a.m. and again 11:10 a.m., the source said. Just after noon on Tuesday, the truck was spotted in Baytown, Texas, heading east on Interstate 10 in the direction of New Orleans, according to the source.
Law enforcement has not said whether the suspected attacker was in the vehicle when it was spotted in Texas.
Deploying ‘every available resource
Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed the FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. He said the the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana are working with local law enforcement and “will deploy every available resource to conduct this investigation.”
“The country woke up this morning to news of a terrible tragedy in New Orleans that killed at least 10 people and injured many more,” Garland said in a statement. “My heart is broken for those who began their year by learning people they love were killed in this horrific attack, and my prayers are with the dozens who were injured, including the New Orleans Police Department Officers who risked their lives to save others.”
Leading up to the holidays, federal law enforcement and intelligence had warned police around the country that low-tech vehicle ramming at public events was a key area of concern and that they needed to prepare — and that was before the German Christmas market attack on Dec. 20, in which five people were killed and hundreds were injured.
In a Dec. 9 assessment for the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, federal and local agencies wrote: “We remain concerned about the use of vehicle ramming against high-profile outdoor events…Vehicle ramming has become a recurring tactic employed by threat actors in the West, marked by a continued interest by (terrorists, extremists) and lone offenders in targeting crowded pedestrian areas.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Refrigerators, beers and bicycles stand at risk of higher prices as a result of tariffs on steel and aluminum announced by President Donald Trump this week, experts told ABC News.
The tariffs, which take effect next month, slap a 25% tax on all foreign steel and aluminum, repeating a policy Trump initiated during his first term in office.
Trade experts told ABC News the tariffs will likely raise prices for some goods made out of the two metals, since importers typically pass along a share of the cost of those higher taxes to retailers and, in turn, down the line to consumers.
“This will feed through the economy,” Kyle Handley, a professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, told ABC News. Higher prices could manifest in as little as three months or as long as a year, Handley added.
In response to ABC News’ request for comment, the White House said the policy would boost economic performance.
“In his first administration, President Trump instituted an America First economic agenda of tariffs, tax cuts, deregulation and an unleashing of American energy that resulted in historic job, wage and investment growth with no inflation. In his second administration, President Trump will again use tariffs to level the playing field and usher in a new era of growth and prosperity for American industry and workers,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said.
Here are the prices that may increase as a result of tariffs on steel and aluminum:
Cars and trucks
Steel is the top material by weight in a car, accounting for about 60% of its weight, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Once steel imports face stiff taxes, experts forecast the price of steel paid by U.S. manufacturers will rise, meaning higher input costs for carmakers. Those companies, they added, are likely to hike prices for consumers as a means of offsetting some of those costs.
“There’s a lot of metal in a Ford truck,” Handley said. “If it’s more expensive, they’ll have to charge more for the car.”
Ford declined to respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Speaking on Tuesday at the Wolfe Research conference, an investor gathering, Ford CEO Jim Farley said potential tariffs on steel and aluminum are causing “cost and chaos,” according to a transcript of the event shared by Ford.
Bill Hanvey, president and CEO of Auto Care Association, a trade group representing thousands of firms across the vehicle supply chain, criticized the steel tariffs.
“Many specialty steel products used in our industry are not readily available from domestic sources, making access to global supply chains essential,” Hanvey said in a statement.
Soda and beer
Aluminum tariffs risk higher prices for beverages packaged in aluminum cans, such as beer and soft drinks, some experts said.
The previous set of tariffs on aluminum cost the U.S. beverage industry $1.7 billion between 2018 and 2022, according to the Beer Institute, an industry trade group.
“Paying a tariff-laden price on all aluminum drives up the cost of doing business and makes consumer goods more expensive,” the Beer Institute said in 2022.
In response to the tariffs imposed by Trump this week, the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild warned on X: “Our small brewery owners and customers will pay the price.”
Some soda companies may also feel the pinch. Speaking on an earnings call on Tuesday, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said the company may focus on a different packaging material if aluminum prices rise.
Home appliances
Major home appliances — such as refrigerators and washing machines — rely in part on steel, making them vulnerable to potential price increases, Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, told ABC News.
“You would certainly expect to see those goods get a little bit more expensive,” Miller said.
In the aftermath of steel and aluminum tariffs during Trump’s first term, major appliances showed price increases of between 5% and 10% between June 2018 and April 2019, Miller added, citing a monthly government data release. Those price hikes far outpaced an overall inflation rate of around 2%.
Though prices for major appliances started to decline in the latter part of 2019, Miller noted, forecasting at the very least a halt in the price drops.
Bicycles
Steel and aluminum make up a key component of bicycles, raising the likelihood of price increases, Handley said.
“Bicycles will definitely be more expensive,” Handley said, pointing to the aluminum used for bicycle frames and components. In some cases, he added, those raw materials depend on steel.
Last month, trade organization People For Bikes expressed concern about 25% tariffs issued for Canadian and Mexican goods, as well as a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. Within days, Trump paused the tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, though they remain on the table.
“As a result of the new administration’s policies, the international trade landscape has become, and will remain, increasingly turbulent,” Matt Moore, policy counsel at People For Bikes, wrote in a blog post.
(LOS ANGELES) — Police in California discovered the body of a 51-year-old woman in the trunk of a car being driven by her 24-year-old son following a pursuit where he tried to escape authorities, police said.
The incident began on Tuesday when officers from the El Cajon Police Department were called to a “suspicious circumstance” at Motel 6, located at 550 Montrose Court in El Cajon, California.
The caller reported that he went to check on his mother who had not returned home after visiting her other son, 24-year-old Richard Leyva, who was staying at the motel. However, upon arrival, the caller said that he discovered his mother’s body in the trunk of her black Hyundai Sonata.
“Investigators have determined that an altercation then happened between the two brothers,” police said in their statement released on Wednesday. “Leyva got into the Hyundai and drove off, striking his brother in the process. The brother was uninjured.”
Police say they quickly responded to the scene and located the Hyundai when a traffic stop was attempted, but Leyva fled from the officers in the process and began to lead them on a pursuit.
“The chase ended when Leyva crashed into two other vehicles,” police continued. “He was taken into custody after officers deployed a Taser to subdue him.”
Following Leyva’s arrest, police began and inspecting the vehicle and ended up discovering the body of a deceased woman in the trunk who was later identified as 51-year-old Jamison Webster.
Her death is being investigated as a homicide, police said.
Leyva has been booked into San Diego County Jail on charges of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, and evading law enforcement.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to the woman’s death and the investigation remains open.
