Recently, ICE has been spotted near schools and in local neighborhoods across New Jersey, leaving many South Jersey students worried about the implications of ICE in their hometowns.

Due to federal directives from the Trump administration, the presence and activity of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across all 50 states has significantly increased. 

Students at Rancocas Valley Regional High School (RVRHS) in Mount Holly reported seeing ICE agents not far from their campus in January in the Mount Holly area. For many, a discrepancy between the official aims of ICE to target criminal illegal immigrants and the actuality of many non-criminal and even non-immigrants being harmed in the process has caused some dissatisfaction with the Trump administration and the current status of immigration in the United States. 

Mount Holly resident RVRHS student Camila Rodriguez ’27 commented on how the increase in ICE activity around Mount Holly impacts the day-to-day lives of nearby residents. 

“I know many Latino citizens have started carrying their legal documents with them because it has been shown that ICE is profiling people based on race and accents. As for the local immigrant community, I could only imagine that it is impacting their daily work responsibilities as well as their mental health,” she said. 

RVRHS student Mia Feliciano ’27 was “not surprised” by the ICE presence in Mount Holly. 

“I was aware that, realistically, they would make their way here … but a part of my mind doesn’t want to believe it,” she added. 

In response to news of the detainment of Liam Conejo Ramos, the now-released five-year-old Minnesotan who was taken by federal agents from his driveway on January 20, the LatinX Affinity Group at MFS reposted an Instagram story in solidarity. Co-facillator of the affinity group, Mariana Wilson ’26, stated that ICE’s current ability to detain citizens based on their appearance worried her. 

“I think the fact that they’ve added skin color as a ‘probable cause’ is really crazy to me because skin color does not determine your character,” she said. 

Beginning in January 2025, ICE has maintained a presence in Camden, New Jersey, with many residents of the area concerned about the implications of ICE targeting the majority Hispanic and immigrant population of Camden. 

Co-facilitator of LatinX Affinity Group Ida Ramos ’26 added on, drawing from her identity as a resident of Camden. 

“I live in a community where it’s highly populated with minorities, and possibly undocumented immigrants; I feel for [them and their children].”

Hosted in collaboration with the MFS LatinX affinity group, MFS’s Diversity Committee met on January 28 to discuss recent events with ICE. During this meeting, the LatinX affinity group gave a presentation on the deaths, detainments, and arrests of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Liam Conejo Ramos, and David Courvelle. Students expressed their emotions about the methods in which ICE detainments have occurred. 

On January 13, RVRHS student Juelyana Sanchez ’27 was notified of ICE in her hometown through her mother and community members who witnessed ICE agents in Mount Holly. She was then promptly warned by her mother not to leave the house in light of the news. 

“Fellow Puerto Rican U.S citizens are still being taken off the streets and or harassed by ICE agents. I’m both African American and Puerto Rican. With both sides of who I am being hated by the world around me, trying to enjoy the life of an average teenager is close to impossible.” Sanchez stated. 

Some students also feel that the increase in ICE presence and the large amount of media coverage on ICE-related violence in America hints at a larger shift in American culture. 

“It’s hard to know how well-documented every violent arrest, detainment, and murder has been. Yet they continue to be justified, and the public [is] lied to. The hardest part, though, is knowing that there are so many people [who] have dehumanized minority communities to the point where they are okay with being complicit in this behavior,” Rodriguez added. 

MFS student Jason Lin feels uncomfortable with the polarization that has occurred within the American community in response to President Trump’s directives. 

“I don’t really know where I stand between the Democrats who call for peaceful demonstrations and the random influencers calling for people to arm themselves, but it’s all a little terrifying to watch,” he said. 

Lin attended the Abolish ICE march in Moorestown on January 24, a protest organized to raise awareness about the inhumane treatment of immigrants by ICE, according to an Instagram post from the organizers. At this protest, Lin was surprised to see “how many people, even outside of the protest, supported [the protesters].” He added, “I kind of underestimated how many people cared about ICE’s [impacts], and it was heartening to see so many people in support.”

Finn Waldorf ’26 at Lenape High School found going to the protest “really encouraging.” 

“It’s really easy to feel like there’s nothing we can do as high schoolers about such a large-scale issue, and that often leads us to not even try to act,” she said. 

The protest was organized by students at Moorestown High School, and students and community members in Moorestown and surrounding areas attended the protest. 

While many students expressed concerns about the growing presence of ICE agents in America and South Jersey, some believe ICE might not pose as large a threat as some insist. 

MFS Student Matthew Diaz ’28 feels a personal connection to this issue. His grandparents migrated to the United States from Cuba during the Cold War. He said he believes that the immigration process in the United States “needs to be made as humane as possible, though that doesn’t necessarily mean [people can] disregard the rules.”

“I think in general, [ICE’s] actions, for the most part, have been necessary, just because enforcing the law is a very important thing that I think we need to value,” Diaz continued. 

MFS Student Arjun Khandhar ’27 agreed with this sentiment. 

“Coming from a family of immigrants who came here legally, I completely support coming the legal way, ensuring that they fill out all the applications, all the forms. And I think it’s kind of an insult when we were saying, anyone can come into this country without an application, without going through the process that my family and millions of other people also had to go through,” he said.