ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has recently set its sights on Charlotte, North Carolina, and its intensified operations in the state have many parents alarmed, which is why a lot of them have opted to keep their kids out of school for fear of indiscriminate arrests. One teacher from a North Carolina elementary school has thus recorded a rather worrying sight in one of his classrooms, further highlighting the detrimental effects of the ICE raids.
Tremayne Higgins is the educator in question, and he’s a 4th-grade teacher from Charlotte, North Carolina. Higgins took to TikTok recently to film the rather sorry state of his classrooms this week, where only a handful of students have attended. The rest were absent, with Higgins implying their absence was due to the heightened ICE activities in the region:
In the video, you can see Higgins panning his camera across the classroom, with the few students he has slumped down at their desks (likely to hide their identities). The video was presumably captured on Monday, November 17, when Higgins had only 10 students present, and this has prompted him to caption the scene, “Today wasn’t normal, my innocent babies didn’t make it into school! Please keep them in your prayers!”
In subsequent video updates on the following day, Higgins alluded to similar situations where most of his students are absent. Statistical reports indicated that around 30,000 students were absent on Monday, as their parents feared the ICE raids, and it appears they continue to skip class based on Higgins’ recent update. “We don’t move on from the ones that are not here, but we do move forward with the ones that are here. Tough battle! Please continue to lift my scholars and their families up in prayer!” claims Higgins regarding the situation.
Most people online are appalled
It’s understandable for students to skip classes in certain emergencies, such as calamities or natural disasters, but this time around, they’re choosing to be absent because of a federal activity, something many people online found rather dystopian. “This Administration Is The Worst In History,” rants a commenter, while another swears, “The way I will hold a grudge over Trump supporters even 50 years from now for thus.”
Still, certain commenters have a rather polarizing opinion on the matter, even going as far as blaming the parents for letting their children skip class due to ICE raids. “It’s the parents fault, don’t blame the government, don’t blame society, don’t! They did not secure their children’s futures! 😞,” with similar comments sparking debate and outrage.
Regardless, the state of classrooms in Charlotte, North Carolina, is disheartening, and many teachers from other states have echoed the sentiments from Tremayne Higgins. “The amount of unused chairs 💔 God cover the Latino community in Charlotte,” prays a TikTok commenter. It’s not clear how long ICE will stay deployed in North Carolina or how long the parents plan to keep their kids out of school for fear of ICE’s activities.
