As deportation fears loom, Clark County School District (CCSD) Superintendent Jhone Ebert said she’s received assurances from federal officials that they won’t conduct immigration enforcement activities at local school sites — even though there’s no state law preventing it.

In an eight-minute interview on Thursday, Ebert revealed that she and School Police Chief Henry “Mike” Blackeye have spoken with Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol officials about limiting their operations ahead of the first day of the school year on Aug. 11.

“They can do their business elsewhere in our community, but … as far as they've indicated today, not going to be doing any of their business in our schools,” Ebert said. “They understand our job is to educate … all pre-K-12 children here in Southern Nevada.”

Ebert’s comments come amid reports that some immigrant parents are fearful of sending their children back to school or deciding to keep their children home altogether to avoid increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement efforts. 

CCSD, the nation’s fifth largest school district, doesn’t track immigration status and enrolls students regardless of citizenship, but the district is diverse and many students hail from immigrant families. About half of the district’s 300,000 students identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to the latest data from the Nevada Department of Education. 

About 13 percent of students, or about 50,000 pupils, are English language learners. About 17,000 are newcomer students, meaning they are foreign-born students who have recently arrived in the U.S., according to the district. 

Earlier this year, the Trump administration rescinded a policy preventing immigration enforcement at sensitive areas such as churches, schools and hospitals.

Since then, there have been nationwide reports of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting parents around schools. In May, a father was arrested while taking his kids to school in Incline Village. In Oregon, a father was arrested by ICE while dropping his child at preschool after he had already applied for a green card. Another parent was recently arrested by ICE in Southern California while dropping off their child. 

Ebert said that hasn’t happened in the district, but added “I wish I could say 100 percent that that’s not going to happen.”

Laura Campos, a community coordinator with the Parent Leadership Team, a group of Latino parents turned education advocates, said she’s spoken with parents so concerned about ICE arrests that they’re looking for transportation options so they can avoid the perceived risk of taking their children to school. She’s heard from parents who are considering smaller school settings, homeschool, online school, or opting their young children out of pre-K.

“Those parents say, ‘Prekinder isn’t important. We can do that at home. I don’t want to put myself at risk for two hours of school,’” Campos said in a Spanish interview. 

Ebert said she’s tracking district enrollment, and so far, the new school year is on the same level as the previous year. 

“So we're at the same numbers, but that doesn't mean that there aren't people that are afraid,” she said. “I need all the children to come to school.”

Leonardo Amador, principal of Ed Von Tobel Middle School, located in a heavily Latino neighborhood in Las Vegas, said during an Aug. 6 town hall hosted by Telemundo Las Vegas that he’s seen a decrease in parents coming in to register their students over the past few weeks. About 80 percent of the school’s students identify as Hispanic, according to state data. 

“There is fear,” he said in Spanish. “Thankfully, families are beginning to show up little by little to register their children but the numbers aren’t the same as we’ve seen in the past.” 

Campos said she’s heard of parents with legal status offering to take the children of undocumented parents to school.

While she’s touched by their show of solidarity, Campos said it would be better if parents didn’t have to be afraid to be involved in their students’ education.

During the 2025 legislative session, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, a former Clark County sheriff, vetoed a bill (AB217) by Assm. Cecelia Gonzalez (D-Las Vegas) that would have prohibited schools or school employees from allowing immigration agents on school grounds, or sharing any information about students to immigration officials. Gonzalez, an educator, said in a recent social media post that she carried the bill to protect students who are afraid to show up to school because of ICE raids.

”Joe Lombardo could’ve stood up for our most vulnerable students, but he chose [President Donald] Trump instead,” Gonzalez wrote in an Aug. 4 post on X. “He failed.”

In his veto message, Lombardo said the bill was “well-intentioned but fundamentally overbroad, and risks creating legal confusion between state and federal authority.” Lombardo’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. 

Ebert said even without the bill, the district already has policies in place to protect immigrant students’ educational rights. In 2017, the district’s school board adopted a resolution stating the district’s commitment to students regardless of immigration status, which was reaffirmed in January after Trump’s inauguration. 

CCSD stated it does not check any student’s immigration status and is not responsible for enforcing federal immigration law.

In addition, the district has policies in place that prevent law enforcement officials and immigration officials from accessing schools or students’ records without district administrators, school police and legal counsel first verifying their identity and confirming they have a valid warrant or court order. Officials say immigration officials who show up at a campus would be taken away from public view while this process is underway to avoid spreading fear. 

“Our staff is all well aware of what is transpiring across this nation and they are prepared to work with their children, their families, their community to make sure that they're all safe,” Ebert said. 

Reporter Isabella Aldrete contributed to this report.