Late last month, students at William J. Brennan High School were confronted with the presence of multiple Customs and Border Patrol agents in full uniform, walking the halls and talking to students and staff.
The agents’ appearance on campus came amid growing public anger and concern over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown. It also took place as the Department of Homeland Security ramps up recruiting efforts for new immigration-enforcement agents.
Border Patrol personnel came to Brennan on Friday, Feb. 27, as part of the school’s efforts to support state College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) initiatives, Northside ISD officials said.
“The Border Patrol was represented — as I understand they have been in the past — along with other session presenters,” NISD Assistant Superintendent for Communications Barry Perez told the Current via email. “This was not a recruiting event — it was a career fair event. The school’s intent was to provide a broad range of career sessions, never to make anyone feel unwelcome or unsafe.”
When asked whether parents were informed of the presence of CBP officers on campus, Perez said he didn’t have that information.
As word of the Border Patrol visit spread, a concerned student reached out to activist organization San Antonio Students for Peace (SASP), which promptly posted a video response to the situation.
“Border Patrol agents do not belong in classrooms,” Claire Lewis, the director of the student-led SASP.
She said the Trump administration’s aggressive deportations using Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel have created a climate of fear.
“The student that sent us this picture was very concerned. They didn’t even know why [agents] were there,” she said. “Whether they’ve had an interaction with ICE before, whether they’ve seen it on the news or it’s personal to their family, it is putting them at risk of retraumatization and really making them fearful and confused as to why they are even there.”
In an email to Michelle Craig, Brennan’s academic dean, Lewis excoriated the school’s lack of sensitivity to the current political climate. The message mentioned Brennan students’ participation in a Jan. 23 school walkout alongside other NISD campuses to protest the White House’s immigration crackdown.
“Allowing Border Control into a learning environment is completely inappropriate and tone deaf considering the time that we are in, as if the walkouts were not a clear enough message,” Lewis said.
Student concern over the Border Patrol visit prompted Brennan Principal John Trimble to release a statement addressing the agency’s presence.
“While our intent was to provide a broad range of options for College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR), I recognize that in our current climate, this visit caused genuine unease,” he said.
Beyond the effect the visit had on students mental health, Lewis accused CBP and ICE of engaging in predatory tactics to enlist young recruits who are from lower economic status or face financial hardships.
“I think that we have seen military groups and certain law enforcement really prey on the most vulnerable who really need the benefits,” she said.
As the Trump administration strives to accelerate mass deportations, CBP has rolled out incentives for new recruits including $10,000 sign-on bonuses and other financial perks capped at $60,000, according to the agency’s website.
“I’m assuming that schools see Border Patrol the same as the military and police, which I personally see as very tone deaf in the time that we are in. Students do not see them as the same, and I don’t think they should be treated as the same,” Lewis added. “I’m really looking to get more answers as to who made this decision, because I’m sure this is happening in other schools and we just don’t know yet, and I think this is definitely something that needs to be approached and talked about.”
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