Covering Federal Immigration Enforcement Policy and Actions

Last updated March 12, 2025 (with additional resources added in June 2025)

Navigating the complexities of immigration reporting requires an understanding of legal protections, ethical responsibilities and best practices for safeguarding sources. For student journalists, covering immigration and enforcement actions likely raises important new legal concerns they have not previously addressed.

In this guide, the Student Press Law Center provides answers to some frequent questions we have received to our Legal Hotline. The below webinar also discusses many of the same legal issues plus some ethical considerations, story ideas and more.

Why are student journalists now concerned about immigration raids?

Under President Donald Trump, the federal government has adopted a more aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, including revising policies to expand the scope of where arrests could occur. While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws and more commonly known as ICE, had historically avoided locations like schools, churches and hospitals to minimize public fear and disruption, in January 2025, the Trump administration rescinded their “sensitive locations” policy. This policy change permits ICE agents to conduct operations on school grounds, increasing the likelihood of enforcement activities in educational settings. 

While ICE agents cannot enter non-public areas of a school without valid consent from school officials or a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge, the change in policy has created anxiety in many schools, leaving students and administrators looking for answers to new questions. Student media have attempted to fill some of the void. Student journalists have contacted the Student Press Law Center with questions, for example, about how to cover their school’s plans for responding to ICE raids, how to obtain records showing how school attendance is being affected or, most commonly, how to explain the personal impact the new immigration policies are having on their classmates, particularly those who are living in the U.S. without permanent legal status or who have close family members who might be targeted by immigration agents. 

What is FERPA and how is it relevant? 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law enacted in 1974 to protect the privacy of student education records. It grants parents certain rights over their children’s educational records, rights that transfer to students once they turn 18 or enroll in a postsecondary institution. Schools that receive federal funding must comply with FERPA, ensuring that student records, including personally identifiable information, remain confidential unless a specific exception applies. Learn more about FERPA here.

For student journalists covering immigration issues, understanding FERPA  is essential, as it directly affects not only journalists’ ability to access and report on student records, but it also generally limits the release of those same student records to ICE or other government officials.  

Do school records contain a student’s immigration status?

Schools are generally barred from gathering or retaining records on students’ immigration status. This restriction originates from the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Plyler v. Doe, which determined that states cannot deny public education to children based on their immigration status. Subsequent court decisions have reinforced this precedent, preventing school systems from seeking or collecting information regarding students’ immigration status.

Is there an exception in FERPA that permits school officials to turn over student records to  ICE or other law enforcement agencies?

Generally no. Under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),  absent a valid court order, school officials generally cannot share student education records with law enforcement officials without violating the law, unless certain exceptions apply. None of the exceptions are likely to apply to ICE raids. 

For example, FERPA permits schools to disclose records if the disclosure is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or others. This exception, as explained more fully below, is narrowly defined and unlikely to apply. Records created and maintained by a school’s own law enforcement unit for law enforcement purposes are not considered “education records” under FERPA and may be disclosed to outside law enforcement officials under certain conditions. But it’s unlikely such records would include any information relevant to ICE. 

Does the national security exception in FERPA apply to ICE requests for student records?

FERPA includes a national security exception that permits schools to disclose student records without consent if the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of students or others. However, this exception is narrowly defined and only applies in cases of imminent threats, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, school shootings or major public health emergencies. For ICE to invoke the national security exception, it must demonstrate an immediate and substantial threat that necessitates access to student records. A broad or vague assertion of national security is not sufficient. Schools must carefully evaluate whether the request meets FERPA’s emergency disclosure standards before providing any student information. In most cases, ICE requests related to immigration enforcement do not qualify for this exception.

Is ICE permitted to use information published in student media to assist in their investigations?

Yes. ICE and other government agencies may freely use publicly available information, including news and sports reports in student newspapers, yearbooks, websites and social media posts to identify and apprehend individuals without permanent legal status.

Is ICE permitted to obtain and use information obtained by student reporters that has not been published — such as a reporter’s notes or unpublished photos — to assist in their investigations? Alternatively, can they force a student reporter to reveal the identity of a confidential source?

This is the most common — and arguably the most important — question SPLC lawyers are hearing through our Legal Hotline. 

Journalists are under no duty to voluntarily turn over their unpublished work or the identity of confidential sources to ICE or other government officials (including school officials). Indeed, journalists typically push back strongly against such government intrusion into their newsgathering and editorial work. 

However, ICE may attempt to obtain unpublished information from student journalists — such as notes, photos or confidential sources — through a subpoena. A subpoena is a court order requiring someone to produce evidence or testify. While student journalists are not obligated to voluntarily cooperate, a subpoena could compel them to turn over materials or face penalties that can include fines and/or jail time. Fortunately, there are laws, strategies and other defenses available to push back against these demands. It’s vital, however, that journalists understand that such defenses are usually not absolute and journalists have been put in the very uncomfortable position of honoring a promise to a confidential source or obeying a court order that breaks that promise.

Student journalists are urged to think long and hard about the risks they are assuming before making promises to their sources. Generally speaking, if a journalist promises a source they will keep their source’s identity secret, the journalist must be prepared to keep that promise, no matter what.

Do state shield laws offer protections when the agency issuing a subpoena is federal, like ICE? 

State shield laws are state-level protections that may allow journalists to withhold confidential sources and unpublished materials from disclosure. These laws vary widely by state but generally provide legal grounds for journalists, usually including student journalists, to refuse to comply with subpoenas demanding source identities.

However, state shield laws and reporter’s privilege cases generally offer limited protections when dealing with federal entities such as ICE. That said, if the case is in federal court due to something called “diversity jurisdiction,” where parties are from different states and the amount at issue exceeds a threshold, the court applies state law. This means a journalist may still be able to invoke state shield law and reporter’s privilege protections. 

What else should student journalists know about resisting subpoenas from ICE? 

Journalists receiving a subpoena should immediately reach out to the SPLC Legal Hotline for help. The legal defenses available will depend on the jurisdiction and the type of case. 

If the case only involves federal law or constitutional interpretation, federal law will apply, and state shield laws will generally not be applicable. There is currently no federal shield law, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) has internal guidelines limiting when federal agencies can subpoena journalists. These guidelines require high-level DOJ approval before compelling a journalist to disclose confidential information and prohibit issuing subpoenas unless necessary for imminent harm or national security threats. However, these guidelines are subject to change under new administrations. 

Even if state shield laws do not apply in federal court, many federal appellate courts recognize a qualified privilege for journalistic materials. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Branzburg v. Hayes, most circuits have acknowledged some protection against compelled disclosure, although the extent of this privilege varies. The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits recognize this privilege in some form, while the Seventh and Eighth Circuits have not definitively done so. More information on shield laws and reporter’s privilege laws is available in the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press’s comprehensive Reporter’s Privilege Compendium.

Can school officials turn over confidential student media information stored on school computers or using other school resources?

One major risk for student reporters is that they often work within a school’s infrastructure, which can weaken their ability to protect their materials. If a student journalist uses school computers, email accounts or cloud storage, school administrators likely have access to the students’ materials and probably have the physical/logistical ability to turn them over to ICE without student approval. (Whether this would be lawful in all cases is a much more complicated legal question.) This can create a shortcut for law enforcement. Without directly subpoenaing a student journalist, ICE could attempt to pressure school administrators without involving the student journalist at all. 

To uphold confidentiality, student journalists must be diligent in securing communications. Using school-owned resources such as computers, email accounts or cloud storage to store the identity of confidential sources or information creates significant risks and should be avoided. Schools often have the authority to monitor and access these resources, meaning that any stored information is not truly private. Administrators or IT personnel may review emails, documents and metadata, either intentionally or as part of routine maintenance. Additionally, if a legal request or subpoena is issued, school officials may be legally obligated to provide access to these records. 

Student journalists should use personal devices and accounts to protect their sources and their reporting. Additionally, journalists should be careful  to protect not only a confidential source’s name, but also any other identifiable details, such as grade level, nationality or family situations. The Nieman Lab has created a practical guide to assist you in safely working with sources that wish to leak information to you and keep their identify secret.

Can student media advisers be forced by school officials to turn confidential information over to them?

Probably. While advisers can provide valuable guidance, they are also school employees. It is generally advisable that they do not know the identity of confidential sources. If an adviser or school official is aware of a source’s identity, they could be subpoenaed and legally compelled to disclose the information. Even if they wish to protect a source, they may not have the same legal protections as a student journalist and, in some cases, they could even face professional or legal consequences for withholding information. Keeping source identities confidential from all school officials, including advisers, minimizes the risk of unintended disclosures and protects not only the source but also both the journalist and the adviser from external pressures. 

Advisers should be aware of these legal risks and encourage students to handle source protection independently while still offering ethical guidance. At the end of the day, the fewer people who know the identities of sources, the safer those sources will be. 

Can – and should – student journalists promise to keep their sources’ identities confidential?

Promising a source that you will keep their identity secret is never a promise that should be made lightly. Such promises are sacred. Such promises can also be legally risky. Journalists have, at times, experienced significant physical and financial hardship to protect the identity of their sources, including spending time in jail. In addition to the ethical demand that journalists honor their promises, courts have allowed sources to sue journalists who break their promises where their breach harms the source. 

Because of the potential risks and ethical pitfalls of using confidential sources, the Poynter Institute has created a thoughtful guide to assist journalists in deciding whether and how to use an unnamed source. 

At the end of the day, however, student journalists, like all journalists, must be prepared to honor any promise to a source that they will keep their identity confidential, even if it puts the journalist in a difficult position. 

Additional Resources

Special thanks to SPLC Legal Extern Leah Korn for compiling the initial version of this resource.