More than 20,000 students were absent from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools during immigration enforcement operations last fall, according to district reporting, a wave of fear that helped spark a new bill in the North Carolina General Assembly aimed at protecting immigrant students in public schools.

House Bill 1061, titled the “Plyler Educational Protections,” would reinforce students’ right to public education and establish clearer guidance for how schools respond to federal immigration enforcement requests. 

Sammy Salkin, a senior policy strategist for the ACLU of North Carolina, said the legislation was created with one focus in mind.

“We want to make it clear that all children in North Carolina, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to a free public school education,” Salkin said.

Salkin said the bill references Plyler v. Doe, the United States Supreme Court decision guaranteeing children access to public education no matter their citizenship status. 

Salkin said North Carolina immigrant communities across the state have experienced increasing fear over the past year after “Operation Charlotte’s Web” in November 2025. This initiative was a Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operation in which many people were arrested across the Charlotte area and the surrounding regions of North Carolina.

“We have seen those attacks reproduced here by our state legislators in North Carolina,” Salkin said. “A lot of our work to try to protect our immigrant neighbors has been focused on trying to stop or mitigate harmful bills to the degree possible.”

Salkin said many students feared what would happen to their families while they were away at school. 

“We’ve heard from young children that they’re afraid that they’re going to come home and their house will be empty because their parents will have been picked up by ICE or CBP,” Salkin said.

Bekah Brown, policy specialist for Education Justice Alliance, said her organization made a quick shift in its focus as immigration enforcement concerns escalated. 

“It did feel for our organization kind of like it was just an overnight rapid response that had to occur,” Brown said. 

Brown described some of the immediate actions organizers took to support families. 

“Our organizers went into making safety plans with parents, making power of attorneys with parents,” Brown said. “We were walking kids to and from bus stops because they were scared to even walk their kids to the bus stops.”

But Brown also said that at that moment, she knew legislative action needed to be taken. 

“It felt like there was a disconnect between what the school districts were saying and what was actually being implemented,” Brown said. “And so really, that was what we were trying to address: ‘how can public schools work best?’”

State Representative Julia Greenfield, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said the legislation is intended to accomplish the goal of making schools safe environments for students.

“Every child should be able to walk into their school and into their classroom, and know that they are accepted, and that they are protected,” Greenfield said.

Greenfield said she became motivated to pursue immigration-related legislation after hearing alarming reports from her constituents. 

“There are seven black Suburban’s outside of the church preschool, and ICE is there, and they are all dressed in tactical gear,” Greenfield said. “The kids are scared, we have got to do something.”

Despite support from advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers, Greenfield said she does not expect the legislation to advance this session. 

“I don’t believe that it will go anywhere here in the legislature because we are in the minority,” Greenfield said. “The Republican majority is not interested in legislation that would keep ICE and CBP out of our schools.”

Still, Salkin said the bill communicates broader values and priorities.

“It still is really important to be signaling to the North Carolina population where our values are and what we want to see as the future for our state,” Salkin said.

Greenfield said she hopes the legislation lays the groundwork for future efforts. 

“We’re sharing with our constituents, with the people of North Carolina, with our immigrant communities: this is what we want to do,” Greenfield said. “And this is what we will do, if we can get in charge.”