Houston closes school for immigrant children after enrollment plummets 

A school that served immigrant children exclusively is closing in Houston, with officials blaming enrollment drops on a federal crackdown on illegal immigrants. 

Enrollment at Las Americas Newcomer School fell from 213 students two years ago to just 21 students this year, Texas Scorecard reported, prompting the Houston Independent School District to consolidate the students into an adjacent school this month. 

The school, which describes itself as “a newcomer campus that educates recent immigrant and refugee students who have no or very limited English language proficiency and who often have had a limited formal education in their native countries,” had 111 students last October but faced further declines since President Donald Trump began his second term in January. It has served students from 37 different countries, including Middle Eastern, African and Central and South American nations. 

Lana Hill, the district’s communications director, said the drop was caused in part by “what’s happening in our country on a federal level,” indicating Trump’s increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity was to blame. 

Houston Superintendent Mike Miles told the City Council last month that fears of deportation have also caused enrollment drops. The district – Texas’ largest and the nation’s seventh largest – is expected to show a loss of 6,500 students, or about 4%, when numbers are released later this month, Texas Scorecard reported. 

Nationally, districts from California to Florida have reported enrollment drops from immigrant families leaving the country and fewer new immigrants arriving, as well as lower attendance from immigrant children fearing deportation. 

The Trump administration has radically slowed the flow of illegal immigrants into the country – which had exploded under Joe Biden – and encouraged 1 million such immigrants to self-deport.