photo by: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sign is seen at the Headquarters in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024.

Two days after the Trump administration threw out limits on immigration enforcement at or near schools, state education officials are assuring Kansans that student safety and privacy are still top priorities.

On Tuesday, as The Associated Press reported, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the guidance on making arrests in or near “sensitive” locations was being rescinded. This means officers enforcing immigration laws can now make arrests in or near these locations, including schools and churches.

In response, the Kansas State Department of Education issued a statement on Thursday saying that the change in guidelines wouldn’t change anything about how Kansas schools treated and protected their students.

“Tuesday’s action did not change the law, nor did it increase the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s authority,” the statement from KSDE said. “To that end, we remind school personnel that their ultimate responsibility is the education and protection of all students. All students have a constitutionally protected right to receive an education.”

The statement said schools were advised to continue to follow the law and abide by their own board-approved policies regarding investigations or arrests on school grounds. Additionally, KSDE said it wanted to assure school personnel, parents and students that student data would not be shared without a warrant, subpoena or other lawfully issued court order.

The KSDE statement is one of a number of reactions from state and local officials to the Trump administration’s immigration-related actions.

President Donald Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants during his term, and the statement from DHS on Tuesday echoed some of Trump’s campaign rhetoric about the threat of violent crimes from migrants. The statement said that “this action empowers the brave men and women in (Customs and Border Protection) and (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”

Another immigration-related action announced by the Trump administration threatens to prosecute state and local officials who obstruct the stepped-up enforcement efforts, as the Journal-World has reported.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has stated that it does not comply with every type of detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sheriff Jay Armbrister told the Journal-World earlier this month that his office has stopped accepting ICE Form I-274a, a request from ICE asking local law enforcement to detain a person suspected of being in the country illegally for a short period. Armbrister explained that the decision was partly due to the fact that the request is signed by an ICE official, not a judge.

On Thursday, Armbrister told the Journal-World via email that the memo does not change a thing for him or his agency.

“We follow the law as it pertains to these situations,” he said.